Posted on 02/13/2012 10:11:22 AM PST by nuconvert
Why does Adele's 'Someone Like You' make everyone cry? Science has found the formula.
-Excerpt-
Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda conducted a simple experiment. He asked music lovers to identify passages of songs that reliably set off a physical reaction, such as tears or goose bumps. Participants identified 20 tear-triggering passages, and when Dr. Sloboda analyzed their properties, a trend emerged: 18 contained a musical device called an "appoggiatura."
An appoggiatura is a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound. "This generates tension in the listener," said Martin Guhn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject. "When the notes return to the anticipated melody, the tension resolves, and it feels good."
Chills often descend on listeners at these moments of resolution. When several appoggiaturas occur next to each other in a melody, it generates a cycle of tension and release. This provokes an even stronger reaction, and that is when the tears start to flow.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
When the Grammies were on I walked through as some black chick was shackled to a big wheel chanting weird stuff.
Asked my daughter what in the heck was that. Got the “Oh, Daddy” with the big eye roll.
in the words of Mr. Spock...”fascinating”.
I think she’s that chubby girl who won all the Grammys last night. Can’t say I’ve ever heard the song, and I doubt it would make me cry - only two songs have done that to me over my 50+ years.
I'm pretty much an Allman Brothers/Pink Floyd kind of guy, but that woman can sing.
I'm pretty much an Allman Brothers/Pink Floyd kind of guy, but that woman can sing.
Me too. Before last night I’d never heard of her. She seems like a pretty decent lady. I was pretty amused that Gaga was so ignored.
Also, she just had to have an operation on her vocal chords and last night was her first performance.
Not a fan and I don’t even watch the Grammys...but she can sing.
A good rendition of America the Beautiful can get me misty.
It’s a good song but cry? Come on.
The one that always gets me has a similar intro: it is the scene in Les Miserables where Fantine welcomes Jean Valjean to come with her to heaven. My eyes well up, my face heats up, and I sob as imperceptibly as possible, but I can never seem to stop my shoulders from shaking involuntarily. From the “Epilogue” scene of Les Miz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oh8HnwVZQM&feature=related
Doesn’t make me cry - low class fat girl who looks like a 19th century streetwalker, singing corny lyrics, nothing melody. Makes me wonder about life on this planet.
interesting
Is this the, “we could have had it all” song?
I like it. It did jump out from the radio, when I first heard it. The thing I noticed about the song is that that line is the only significant melody. The rest of the song is a off-kilter rhythm, carried along only by her voice. So when the melody appears, it stands out. Maybe this is what the author is getting at.
The other important part of that line is that everyone who has endured a breakup can relate to it.
I have the DVD. So many great songs.
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