setting-the-stage

The ramblings of a multitasking [singing, dancing, acting] college student.

Posts tagged wow

17,395 notes

jtotheizzoe: The Science of Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone Cry Tension, resolution, and the ever important “buildy-ness” (which is a term I invented but is accurate), these are the characteristics behind the most extreme emotional reactions to songs: Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda conducted a simple experiment. He asked music lovers to identify passages of songs that reliably set off a physical reaction, such as tears or goose bumps. Participants identified 20 tear-triggering passages, and when Dr. Sloboda analyzed their properties, a trend emerged: 18 contained a musical device called an “appoggiatura.” An appoggiatura is a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound. “This generates tension in the listener,” said Martin Guhn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject. “When the notes return to the anticipated melody, the tension resolves, and it feels good.” Chills often descend on listeners at these moments of resolution. When several appoggiaturas occur next to each other in a melody, it generates a cycle of tension and release. This provokes an even stronger reaction, and that is when the tears start to flow. There’s just about the most detailed scientific analysis of a Grammy-winning song ever at the link. (via WSJ.com)

jtotheizzoe:

The Science of Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone Cry

Tension, resolution, and the ever important “buildy-ness” (which is a term I invented but is accurate), these are the characteristics behind the most extreme emotional reactions to songs:

Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda conducted a simple experiment. He asked music lovers to identify passages of songs that reliably set off a physical reaction, such as tears or goose bumps. Participants identified 20 tear-triggering passages, and when Dr. Sloboda analyzed their properties, a trend emerged: 18 contained a musical device called an “appoggiatura.”

An appoggiatura is a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound. “This generates tension in the listener,” said Martin Guhn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject. “When the notes return to the anticipated melody, the tension resolves, and it feels good.”

Chills often descend on listeners at these moments of resolution. When several appoggiaturas occur next to each other in a melody, it generates a cycle of tension and release. This provokes an even stronger reaction, and that is when the tears start to flow.

There’s just about the most detailed scientific analysis of a Grammy-winning song ever at the link.

(via WSJ.com)

(via maureenjohnsonismypatronus)

Filed under music science wow adele grammys

1,960 notes

fauxxe:

Artist David Kracov was commissioned to create an award to be given in honor of, and named for, the late director of Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl.

Called the “Book Of Life,” it was inspired by the extraordinary life of Rabbi Yossi Raichik, a man who saved thousands of children’s lives from the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster. The metal sculpture has pages filled with words from those he touched, and also features a flurry of butterflies, each representing the 2,547 children he helped save and give new lives.

The Book of Life, by David Kracov.

(via theelephantdances)

Filed under books reading art writing creative wow