Why You Love Music Quotes

“A surprisingly large majority of people are quite happy to be fed a steady diet of music chosen by others, but there is a small minority who really don’t like it. These naysayers are concentrated in one social group—males over the age of forty, or, to use their more technical appellation, grumpy middle-aged men. The psychologist’s best guess as to why we grumpy middle-aged men don’t like background music is that we are used to having control over things around us.17 We don’t like it when we can’t choose, so we get tetchy and disagreeable, and we don’t like shoe shops anyway, so the irritating music gives us a good excuse to stalk off to the nearest pub.”
― John Powell, Why You Love Music: From Mozart to Metallica—The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds

“Casablanca. The composer, Max Steiner, incorporates the French and German national anthems into the score, and, like most national anthems, both of these tunes were originally written in a major key. But in order to reinforce our negative view of the Nazis, Steiner transposed the German national anthem into a minor key and provided a discordant accompaniment, giving the tune a menacing, oppressive feel.16”
― John Powell, Why You Love Music: From Mozart to Metallica—The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds

“sounds. Unexpected changes in pitch, timbre, loudness, and even the direction the sound is coming from surprise us to some extent. And the fact that we are equally surprised by increases or reductions in loudness (or even sudden silences) shows that it’s the change in pattern which is important. A pattern of sounds makes you expect a continuation of that pattern, and if your expectations are violated, your brain starts paying attention. Obviously, small deviations generate minor responses and big pattern changes are more startling.”
― John Powell, Why You Love Music: From Mozart to Metallica—The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds

“Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), in which patients are encouraged to experience (and talk about) visual images while music is playing. This kind of guided musical visualization can be very effective at reducing stress levels and alleviating depression.”
― John Powell, Why You Love Music: From Mozart to Metallica—The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds