Puppeteer of the heartstrings
Last night, Adele took home several Grammy awards, including Record of the Year for her soulful “Rolling in the Deep.” Adele’s voice is spectacular, and her hits really seem to have what it takes to move people. While “Rolling in the Deep” makes me want to shout and dance, her wistful ballad “Someone Like You” makes me (and millions of others) feel like crying. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses why this song has that kind of effect.
It comes down to the appogiattura – a musical device in the form of an extra ornamental note that “clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound.” This dissonance is then resolved, sending us on a mini roller coaster whenever our ears come across this little trick or surprise. All perceptual “surprises” are coded in the brain with a burst of dopamine (note: in a past entry, I wrote about how dopamine represents “prediction error”, or when something is better than expected, such as getting a reward when you expected nothing). This dopaminergic signal causes us to experience an emotional reaction, and to want to experience the stimulus again. Many drugs work by causing unnatural bursts of dopamine, which is how people get addicted; their brains are programmed to want it again and again. So, when you feel that emotional reaction to a song – goosebumps, chills, your tearducts filling up – you want to feel it again. And you listen to that song repeatedly.
Most musicians seek to make this kind of music – the poignant pieces that keep you coming back for more. But most don’t, or can’t, articulate the devices that they use. As music and musical research advances, however, producers and artists are purposefully playing with our brains’ auditory and pleasure centers. It seems cheap, I know…but it’s effective. And after all, isn’t that what matters in the end? Or is there something about knowing exactly why you’re getting goosebumps that takes away from the musical experience?
I’m not sure if knowing why you have the reactions you do while listening to music takes away from the experience, but thinking that people are trying to produce that effect on purpose instead of making a good song or telling a story is a bit of a turn off.
It’s interesting with Adele because from her interviews and even her songs, you can tell she’s addicted to being in love. She talks about loving the feeling and even if she doesn’t love the heartbreak, it’s all part of the experience. That addiction and passion comes through in her songs. I don’t know if she writes the music or not, but I don’t think the songs would be as powerful if her feelings/stories/voice weren’t behind the notes as well.
Comment by Amanda | February 16, 2012
Also, is your title for this post a song lyric? I like it a lot.
Comment by Amanda | February 16, 2012
The title is not a song lyric, so I’m glad you like it. It just seemed appropriate.
I know that Adele co-writes her songs, but she works with one of the best producers out there (he won a Grammy this year), so my guess is that he’s more of the puppeteer. I do believe that she has real feelings that she transmits – she’s talked about going through a real hard breakup before. But the point is that we now know exactly what chords and tricks correspond to what emotional responses, even though it’s intuitive anyway. Classical music has these same tricks, but back then, they couldn’t articulate them.
Comment by karolina | February 16, 2012