Behind the Brain

If you’ve ever listened to the Interstellar soundtrack, you know that you randomly start to feel sad. And once the music is over, you just feel kind of lost. On the other hand happy songs make us feel happy. But why? What classifies a song as happy or sad?

Well you may say, the lyrics of the song make us feel happy or sad. But that is exactly the reason why I referenced When I’m talking about a “song” I am only referring to the tune rather than the lyrics.

Childhood Conditioning

The reason major songs sound happy and minor songs sound sad to us, is simply due to societal stereotypes that have conditioned our brain to recognize major and minor tunes as happy and sad respectively. We get the ability to hear during the 6th month in the womb. From then, we are able to hear songs set in major keys, like Happy Birthday, and most national anthems. During these occasions, we often hear laughter and cheering, leading us to associate major scales with happiness. On the other hand, minor pieces such as Chopin’s Funeral March are often met with crying and mourning, conditioning our brain to associate minor scales with sadness.

Announcement

Hello everyone. I recently released a instrumental song on YouTube and would love for you all to check it out! It’s space themed, and I think you all would really enjoy it. Thank you!