Psychology of music

The psychology of music, or music psychology, is a branch of psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and/or musicology. It helps us understand how people think, feel, and behave when they listen to, play, or create music. This field studies how music is heard, made, enjoyed, and used in daily life.

Modern work in music psychology uses experiments and studies with real people to learn more about music. This research helps improve music performance, composition, education, and even therapy. It also looks at how music affects our thoughts, skills, creativity, and how we act with others.

Music psychology can also help us understand music better in other ways. For example, it can support music theory by studying how we hear things like melody, harmony, rhythm, and more. It can even help music history by looking at how people have responded to music over time.

History

Early history (pre-1850)

People have studied sound and music for a very long time. Long ago, around the 6th century BCE, a man named Pythagoras discovered that certain lengths of strings could create pleasing musical notes. For many years, people thought music could only be understood by looking at the physics of sound.

Later, a thinker named Aristoxenus suggested that music should be studied by looking at how people hear and remember it. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, most music learning followed Pythagoras's ideas.

Rise of empirical study (1860–1960)

In the late 1800s, scientists began to study music in a new way, by doing experiments and collecting data. One scientist, Wilhelm Wundt, wanted to break down experiences into small parts to understand them better. Others, like Carl Stumpf, used musical instruments to study how people hear different sounds.

Modern (1960–present)

In the second half of the 20th century, the study of music and the mind grew a lot. Scientists looked at how people hear pitch, rhythm, and harmony, and how music affects feelings. They also studied how music helps in learning and healing.

Today, there are special schools, groups, and journals just for studying music and the mind. Books by writers like Daniel Levitin and Oliver Sacks have helped many people learn more about this topic. There has also been much talk about whether listening to classical music can help people think better, known as the "Mozart effect".

Research areas

Perception and cognition

Much work in the psychology of music tries to understand how our minds handle music. This includes how we hear, remember, focus on, and enjoy music. These studies started in areas like psychoacoustics and sensation but now also include neuroscience, cognitive science, music theory, music therapy, computer science, psychology, philosophy, and linguistics.

Affective response

Main article: Music and emotion

Music often brings out strong feelings in listeners. Researchers study which parts of a song or performance cause these feelings, how people react, and how personal traits shape these emotions. This research connects to philosophy, musicology, aesthetics, music composition, and performance. For everyday listeners, music can boost mood, creativity, and focus by releasing helpful chemicals in the brain. The tempo and style of music often decide whether it helps or distracts. Music can also shape how people see the world and influence their choices.

Neuropsychology

Main article: Cognitive neuroscience of music

Scientists also study how the brain works when we listen, play, or think about music. They look at how the brain handles sounds, movements, and feelings linked to music. Researchers use tools like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), magnetoencephalography (MEG), electroencephalography (EEG), and positron emission tomography (PET) to understand these brain activities.

Playing music needs both the parts of the brain that control movement and the parts that hear sounds. This creates a strong connection between what we do and what we hear.

Processing pitch

We usually hear pitch based on a basic frequency, but sometimes we can hear a pitch even when that basic frequency isn’t actually playing. This is called the pitch of the missing fundamental. Studies with animals and humans show that certain brain areas help us recognize pitch, even when sound qualities change.

Absolute pitch

Main article: Absolute pitch

Some people can tell or play a musical note without hearing a reference note first. This is called absolute pitch, and it’s rare—about 1 in 10,000 people have it. Scientists debate whether this skill is born or learned, with evidence supporting both ideas.

Processing rhythm

Research shows that we can hear rhythm and pitch separately, but they also work together to shape our musical experience. Brain studies suggest that areas involved in movement help us both hear and play rhythms.

Dynamics

Dynamics in music refer to how loud or soft the music is. Listening to music at moderate volumes can lower anxiety, improve mood, and help with memory. However, very loud music can damage hearing over time.

Neural correlates of musical training

Musicians often show changes in their brains from practicing. These changes can make certain brain areas work more efficiently. Learning music may also help with reading and processing visual information.

Motor imagery

Studies show that when people imagine hearing or playing music, certain brain areas light up, similar to when they actually do these activities.

Psychoacoustics

Main article: Psychoacoustics

Further information: Hearing (sense) and Auditory illusion

Psychoacoustics studies how we perceive sound, including music. It looks at how we hear pitch, loudness, and other sound qualities, and how these perceptions affect our understanding of music. It also explores how we locate sounds and how our brains can be tricked by certain sounds.

Cognitive musicology

Main article: Cognitive musicology

Cognitive musicology uses computer models to study how we understand music. It looks at how music is represented in our minds and how we process it, drawing from artificial intelligence and cognitive science. This field explores connections between music and language and uses computer programs to test ideas.

Evolutionary musicology

Main article: Evolutionary musicology

Evolutionary musicology looks at how music began, how animals use sound, and how music evolved along with humans. It examines music through the lens of evolution, with debates about whether music had survival benefits or if it emerged as a side effect of other developments.

Cultural differences

Main article: Culture in music cognition

See also: Ethnomusicology

Our culture and background shape how we experience music. From a young age, people prefer music from their own cultural traditions. Both unique and shared features of music affect how people feel and remember it.

Applied research areas

Some areas of research in the psychology of music look at how music is used in everyday life and the experiences of both everyday musicians and professionals. These areas use knowledge from different parts of psychology and related fields.

Music in society

This area includes studying how people use music in their daily lives, such as listening to music, taking part in musical activities like religious services or parties, and how music helps shape personal and group identities. It also looks at how music relates to dancing and how social factors like friends and family affect music preferences.

Musical preference

Research has looked at how people’s choices in music relate to personality traits such as openness to new ideas, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. Gender also plays a role, with men often choosing music for thinking reasons and women for emotional reasons. Music preferences can also be linked to mood and memories.

Background music

Main article: Background music

Studying background music looks at how music affects behavior when doing other tasks. In experiments, music can help or hinder performance on thinking tasks like memory and attention. It is often used in advertising to influence consumer choices and marketing strategies. Background music can also help with learning, memory, and reducing boredom, while also creating a pleasant mood and a sense of privacy.

Music in marketing

Main article: Background music § Music in marketing

Music is very important in radio and television ads. It helps people remember the ad, decide to buy a product, and form opinions about the ad and the brand. The music needs to match the ad, with the right style, speed, and feelings to fit the product being advertised.

Music and productivity

Main article: Background music § Effects on cognitive performance

Listening to music while working can affect how well people do complex tasks. Some studies show that listening to preferred music can help productivity, while others find it can be distracting. Factors like how loud the music is and what kind of words are in the songs can also play a role.

Music education

Main article: Music education

This area looks at improving music education, how musical skills develop over a lifetime, and what it’s like to learn to play an instrument or sing. It also studies learning in music schools, the benefits of musical education for intelligence, and ways to practice effectively.

Musical aptitude

Musical aptitude is a person’s natural ability to learn music-related skills. Research in this area looks at whether aptitude can be measured, whether it is inherited, and how it affects learning music. This topic is closely related to intelligence and IQ.

Music performance

See also: Performance science

This area studies the body’s response to performing, reading music, playing from memory, improvising, and composing. It also looks at the feelings performers get, how groups perform together, and how audiences judge performances. It covers topics like music quality evaluation and audio engineering.

Music and health

Health benefits

Studies show that singing can have many good effects on health. Singing can help reduce stress, boost the immune system, and improve mood. It also helps people feel connected to others and can even help during pregnancy by letting mothers communicate with their unborn babies. Singing can also help people feel relaxed and escape from daily worries.

Effect on the brain

Singing can make people feel happy because it increases chemicals in the brain linked to pleasure. Some researchers think that singing may have helped humans develop speech and fine motor skills. Studies show that singing improves mood, helps people connect with others, and can reduce stress.

Effect on body

Singing has many physical benefits, including:

1. Strengthening the lungs and breathing muscles
2. Helping with sleep
3. Improving heart health
4. Relaxing muscles
5. Improving posture
6. Opening up airways
7. Reducing snoring with training
8. Boosting the immune system
9. Helping manage pain
10. Improving balance in people with certain illnesses

Psychological benefits

Singing can also help mentally by:

1. Lowering stress hormones
2. Reducing blood pressure
3. Releasing feel-good chemicals
4. Improving mood
5. Easing anxiety

Other concepts

See also: Music therapy, Music and sleep, and Musicians' Medicine

This area looks at how music is used in healthcare, disorders related to music, and the health and well-being of musicians. It also studies issues like performance anxiety, motivation, burnout, depression, hearing loss, and sleep problems among musicians.