Music and mood

Music can often affect my short term mood to what seems a disproportionate level. I have been thinking about why this may be, in particular trying to consider the pieces of music that more frequently cause a change in my emotions.

1. Music with a specific association to a past event.

This is quite obvious; many things can cause associations to memories, events, other people, and so on. Examples: Clutching at Straws (Marillion) with a very depressed evening when I was 17 or 18; Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton) with seeing E.C. live and being the first dance at our wedding.

2. Music which I relate to.

Feeling a strong connection with something because of perceived personal similarities is of a nature with association with memories. For example, the strong themes of mental turbulence and illness in the music of Dream Theater (I know, they are Americans, they can't help it).

3. Familiarity

Knowing anything in great depth or over many years can imbue it with a value of its own. There are some albums that I can obsess over for a period of time, and which subsequently I come to know with great familiarity. That this can then lead to an emotional response of listening to them again isn't hard to see. Examples: take your pick.

4. Music (lyrics) with an emotive theme.

I am susceptible to emotional content in all forms of media. I can easily shed a tear or become otherwise deeply involved in a film, book, or music. Examples: Snow (Spock's Beard) both the darker parts and the joyous and triumphant sections; Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel).

5. Lower level effects

There appears to be a more subconscious level at which some music can affect people; most often this is referred to when speaking of dance/electronic music, usually in terms of high tempo music with a strong beat. I would also extend this to include pieces that include strong crescendos, in certain major keys, and so on. Examples: The Prodigy; The Ode To Joy (Beethoven).

6. Virtuoso performances or compositions

This is one aspect that interests me as it seems more unusual to me. I can often become overwhelmed, usually exemplified by complete focus and tearfulness, by a particularly skilful or complex segment of a piece. Most frequently, because of the type of music I listen to and the nature of composition and arrangement, this is a guitar or keyboard solo of some sort, but can be anything (even percussion - my Father would be disturbed if he knew). Examples: Rick Wakeman twiddling away; Bach.

7. Appositeness

I wasn't sure what word I could use for this, so I shall describe what I mean. Sometimes, you are listening to a song or piece of music and a part of it, maybe a line of lyrics, maybe a instrumental solo, maybe the sum of the whole seems so completely right and perfect. It doesn't need to be particularly complex or clever, but it feels as if nothing else could work. Dave Gilmour seems to have the knack of this for me; he isn't the pinnacle of a great technical guitarist (although he is very good), but sometimes he just played the right notes in the right place and it was perfect.

Of course, any given piece of music may trigger one, more, or all of these. Or I may be slightly weird and be over analysing a broken emotional response. Whatever it may be, music can flick my switches.