Meaning, expression, arousal and emotion

1
Meaning, expression, arousal and emotion

• MUSI 1911/2
• Introduction to the Psychology of Music

2
Overview

• Introduction meaning and emotion
• Where is meaning/emotion in music?
• Emotion and arousal
• Meaning and communication
• Structure, emotion and meaning
• Summary and further reading

3
Introduction meaning and emotion

• Meaning
• intramusical (embodied)
• closure
• dominant-tonic progression
• extramusical (designative)
• this music is to do with nature
• use of cowbells
• Emotion
• by association (theyre playing our tune)
• ??

4
Where is meaning/emotion in music?

• In the music?
• In us?
• In context?

5
Emotion and arousal

• Arousal
• Changes in physical state
• Release of adrenaline
• Dry mouth, tingles, sweaty palms, trembling
• Emotion
• Interpretation of arousal
• Cause of arousal
• COGNITIVE

6
Meaning and communication

• Communication
• performer gt listener
• composer gtlistener
• composer gt performer gt listener
• effects of context (personal, musical, cultural,
  environmental)
• Meaning
• decoding of message
• arbitrary/conventional code

7
Structure, emotion and meaning

• Structure
• of performance (e.g. expressive timing)
• happiness - faster tempi, less expressive timing
• sadness - slower tempi, more expressive timing
• e.g. Gabrielsson and Juslin (1996)
• of composition (e.g. expectation)
• suspension
• sequence
• arousal, but emotional response may vary due to
  context
• Sloboda (1991) also see Waterman (1996)

8
Summary and further reading

• Relationship between music and
• meaning
• emotion
• Not purely biological
• Predictable?
• Complex
• Not fixed
• Read Dowling and Harwood (1986) Chapter 8