Music and Emotions

How can a succession of air-vibrations which move the small tympanic membrane of our ear become "music to our ears"? why should we be thrilled, feel elated or be moved to tears by such changes in air pressure? We are still very far from understanding this mystery. One approach is to look for connections between what happens in the music as it unfolds in time and how these changes may be tied to three simultaneous levels of responses: the reported experience (free descriptions or forced choices from sets of adjectives); the physiological responses (like change in heart rate or breathing); and changes in brain responses. Importantly we focus on the dynamics of changes which are so basic to our emotional inner life as well as to music (moving back and forth from loud to soft, fast to slow, one to many voices, harmonious to nonharmonious etc. etc.). Though promising, this approach also challenges us to find new ways of quantifying what happens in the music second by second.