From classical symphonies to rock songs, beatboxing, yodelling and gospel choirs, music is so diverse. Yet it seems to be the one thing that unites all humans and is part of our social life and culture. And it seems that this has been the case for quite some time: the oldest instruments ever discovered are flutes – around 40,000 years old! But what is music really – and why do we enjoy it?
Unlike paintings, where we look at a canvas, music is something we cannot see nor touch. It consists of frequencies, vibrations in the air, which appear to us as sounds. We perceive a sound with our ear and the signals are sent to our brain. It is here that harmony, rhythm and tone are processed. The big difference between a musical note played by a piano and a noise like rain is the number of frequencies. There are also several frequencies that are mixed together to create a musical sound – but if all the frequencies are mixed together chaotically, without any system, we cannot hear clearly defined tones and perceive it as noise. For every musical sound, we hear a main note – but it is accompanied by overtones. These are the ones that make us scream in pain when we play very similar notes at the same time: Our ear simply cannot tell them apart very well, and our brain cannot cope with the confusing signals it receives from the ear, scientists assume. The result is music that we think sounds terrible. Since we have already used an expression that you might find in your physics schoolbook (“frequencies”), it is not surprising that physicists and even mathematicians are very interested in music. Even the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras developed theories to explain the world using mathematics and music – he discovered, for example, that if you divide a string in a ratio of 1:2 and make the two parts vibrate, the notes will be exactly one octave apart. Later, in the 17th century, it was discovered that a string vibrated twice as fast when it was an octave higher. In case you were wondering what an octave is: If you go up eight keys from any key on a piano keyboard, you will reach another note that is exactly one octave away and sounds very similar.
Octaves are one of the elements that connect all kinds of music. The principle of this interval can be found everywhere, no matter what musical style or culture. This helps us to answer the question of whether music is really a universal language that everyone understands, or whether it is completely different from culture to culture. When you consider all the different musical instruments and styles, such as the operas of W.A. Mozart, the rock songs of the rock band Queen, throat singing or the sounds of the Indonesian gamelan, it is not surprising that there are definitely huge differences in how people understand and feel about music. Some songs may seem happy to some people and sad to others. No wonder, since the Western system today only knows two kinds of scales associated with different moods (major and minor), while the ancient Greeks, for example, distinguished between seven moods! The same goes for all the different musical systems and theories: While in Indonesia there are only five different tones in a scale, the Western system works with twelve and the Indian with 22. But all these systems have two elements in common: one is that the tones at the interval of an octave (although they may be called differently) are seen as similar, one is that there is a root tone as the basis for a piece of music. So yes, music connects us all, but we may understand it a little differently.
Now that we have found out what music is and that it connects us, the question remains of why we make and enjoy it. Firstly, we perceive sounds in the natural world around us. We can also hear the overtones (see above) sounding an octave apart or even as a triad in D major (as if you were pressing the keys D, F# and A on a piano keyboard). But there is not much research on how this relates to human music. What researchers did figure out is that melodies, rhythms and harmonies directly affect our brains – in many ways: The limbic system, the area of the brain where our emotions are processed, is immediately influenced by music, meaning that there is a strong link between emotions and music. For example, lullabies for babies release a hormone called oxytocin. It strengthens the relationship between the singing parent and the baby and makes the child feel safe. Another theory for why we enjoy music is that it is a really fun task for our brains to do: Our brains have to recognise patterns in all the different notes and rhythms to find melodies, harmonies and beats. This is a pretty complex task for our brains to do, but at the same time it is not too difficult, and it gets easier and easier every time we listen – so it is simply fun for our brains! Because music affects us so deeply, we can use it as a way of coping with challenges. We can listen to upbeat pop songs to motivate ourselves for our five kilometre run, or use a classical symphony to relax when we have a scary appointment at the dentist. You can also use it to improve your memory – it helps build connections between neurons in your brain. In music therapy, music is used to help with anxiety, depression and pain. It even has a positive effect on patients with some neurological conditions!
But how come we started making music? One theory is that music has helped to strengthen our social bonds, to connect us and to help us build a sense of community – all of which is very helpful for us humans as “animal sociale” or social animals: we need relationships and to be part of a group, and music is a great way to organise and synchronise a group, for teamwork, to share emotions and to motivate each other. This also includes the spiritual aspect of music as it is often used in religious contexts, by many religions.
But is music something that only humans can understand? Surprisingly, and only thanks to very recent research, the answer is not so simple. A few decades ago, scientists didn’t believe that animals could recognise a beat and dance to it – but there have been a few examples to prove them wrong. A dancing cockatoo called Snowball and the headbanging sea lion Ronan were able to adapt their dance to the speed of the song. This showed that the animals had not just learnt a particular movement, but understood the tempo of the beat. In addition, the scientists discovered that certain animal species prefer to listen to different types of music. Although this may have nothing to do with actually understanding music, the fact that dogs like soft rock and reggae best is kind of funny! Researchers think it may be due to the heartbeat-like rhythm of the songs.
All in all, music is a fascinating and essential part of our culture that still has a few secrets to reveal. From how it was invented, to how it affects our brains, to why and how some animals dance, there is still much for scientists to explore and explain. However, I hope this article has made the great mystery of music a little less mysterious for you – stay curious and don’t forget to turn on some reggae songs if you have a dog!
References:
- https://www.spiegel.de/politik/die-musik-formel-a-61da667e-0002-0001-0000-000027970590 – Philip Bethge, Spiegel.de, 27/07/2003
- https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/die-bedeutung-der-musik-fuer-den-menschen-weit-mehr-als-nur-100.html – Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 03/06/2018
- https://www.planet-wissen.de/kultur/musik/macht_der_musik/index.html – Salim Butt, 23/07/2019
- https://www.mdr.de/wissen/die-grossen-fragen-warum-brauchen-wir-musik-100.html – Karsten Möbius, MDR Wissen, 23/03/2023
- https://www.morgenpost.de/vermischtes/article213012483/Nicht-so-laut-Diese-Musik-geht-den-Tieren-auf-die-Ohren.html – Sonja Fröhlich, 04/01/2018