Why does music have such a hold over us

@tonyEE

Claiming the right to say bs like anyone else, I believe that the certainty of reality does not exist, so I easily accept the fact that for you that is a false premise asking you to accept the fact that instead for me it is: time will tell.

Please share your thoughts expanding your point of view.

Thank you
 
Ever notice how you remember all the words to a song that you haven’t heard in 20 years when you hear the music? That shows how basal the memories are. You are not remembering from your conscious mind but from a more primitive part. The words are not remembered for their meaning but for their sound.
Very interesting.
Although perhaps this explains the "how", but not the "why".

The "why", and that's the answer to the question: "Why does music have such a hold over us?" seems to be "because Music activate the neural circuit of the reward".

Please note that I say "seems" and not "is" just because in the scientific field (as not everyone knows) it is never said "is", but it is always said "seems" since the things may change and what we are certain today it may become false tomorrow.
 
"Why does music have such a hold over us?"

In my opinion, as we know everything that concerns the brain and therefore involves the neuroscience results as particularly complex and if/when an answer is given then a world of further fascinating questions opens.
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"appeals to the basal or primal part of our brain," - this isn't an explanation of why, its an explanation more about "how". Why would the brain spend energy on music - this is what is in need to be explained.

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"appeals to the basal or primal part of our brain," - this isn't an explanation of why, its an explanation more about "how".
Fully agree.
It's exactly what I already said too.

Why would the brain spend energy on music
See, it seems the exact opposite: the brain acquires energy from Music.
Positive energy of pleasure.
It seems precisely for this reason that Music activates the neural circuit of the reward and dopamine release, just like it happens when the primary needs of mankind are satisfied (eat, safety, affection, make love).
 
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OK - I see that now - sorry!

"the brain acquires energy from Music" - it does, now, but I doubt if that was the primary and initial driver. I assume that energy was scarce and that the brain didn't have the luxury of entertainment just for the fun of it. It probably came as a consequence of survival - this is my guess.

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OK - I see that now - sorry!

"the brain acquires energy from Music" - it does, now, but I doubt if that was the primary and initial driver. I assume that energy was scarce and that the brain didn't have the luxury of entertainment just for the fun of it. It probably came as a consequence of survival - this is my guess.

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No problem at all.

Hearing is a fundamental sense for survival and therefore to cope with any possible "environmental" emergencies, as moreover the sense of smell, which has also the function of making it clear if the food one are about to eat is not avaried, so they remain active even during sleep, but actually I don't know how to find a correlation between survival and listening to Music. 🙂
 
"Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation."
Yes, because music is a sequence. I guess I read about Helmoltz ( yes, the resonators !!) talking about expectation, so that's not news.
So based on a sequence, a number preceeds and another comes...a number, a note. Or an atmosphere ( given by a chord being played, or many instruments contributing ) that is followed by another, without abrupt passage.
 
...based on a sequence, a number preceeds and another comes...a number, a note.
Expectation may need to be setup before it can be violated, then possibly resolved. It turns out that certain musical techniques can tend to elicit certain emotions and or physical reactions. Some people find they are affected by particular musical passages whereas other people aren't. Lots good stuff in Huron's book, and it has been widely cited as a reference by subsequent researchers.
 
Yes, because music is a sequence. I guess I read about Helmoltz ( yes, the resonators !!) talking about expectation, so that's not news.
So based on a sequence, a number preceeds and another comes...a number, a note. Or an atmosphere ( given by a chord being played, or many instruments contributing ) that is followed by another, without abrupt passage.
Two examples of "balladic rule of thirds" mentioned in post #22. The first is possibly the single most beloved (yet misunderstood) classical Chinese lyric "Flowering spring autumn moon, when'll Seasons be over? Time Past, knew so much, lesser?" 10th Century. The second is The Way We Were, movie theme sang by Barbra Streisand. Emphasis and transformation on each third line/word/syllable (musical note). And serendipitously, the Chinese lyric goes absolutely perfect with the tune in full glory for both. When I translated the text to English, only the verbatim word order following the rule of thirds best-fitted The Way We Were, 1000 years later.
 
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(cont'd from #93) Three pieces by Li Yu, 989-1052 Southern Tang/Northern Song Dynasties. He was the Song Emperor's final conquest and as a captive wrote these pieces, for which he was finally given poison.

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No, they are simply two different things.

The link posted by you seems to be an interesting self-assessment investigation to which the participants responded about the favorite functions that themselves attribute to Music when they choose to listen to it and highlights the 3 most chosen and self-valuated reasons over 129 proposed functions, the link posted by me seems to be a list of the currently known reasons why Music would be heard with related descriptions and among other things it makes a reference to the so-called "Musicking" about that I had never heard of before.

Since my job is also to use clinical studies daily (it has almost become a professional deformation) to demonstrate, confirm, question or describe a new achievement of acquisitions in the medical-scientific field and I particularly appreciated the enormous bibliography dating back to several decades accompanying the link you posted.

However, someone said that the contents of the links posted on the forums are almost never read and/or practically never read entirely, it will perhaps be true, but then it will not be easy to take a critical position without reading first.

Of the previous links posted by me at least one is a true clinical study showing that dopamine causally mediates musical reward experience providing an huge amount of bibliographic references of clinical studies.

On the other hand, despite so many readings and after knowing the bio-chemical changes that listening to Music induces and read what psychological concerns listening to Music implies I'm yet not totally sure about the authentic meaning of the question inside the title of the topic... 🙄