Why does some music make us sad?

[TheGreek]

Have a listen when you have a spare 35 minutes.

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4y4b?xtor=ES-212-[63222_worldservicenewsletter030823]-20230803-[bbcrworldservice_crowdscience_sad_link]

[Steve Browning]

'Cos it's in D minor. 

[Dan Dare]

This is a fascinating subject. Google something like "psychological effect of keys in music" and you'll find plenty of really interesting stuff around on the topic of how keys and musical structures affect mood and emotion. Even Bach was aware of it.

[MacDaddy]

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:08, Steve Browning said:

'Cos it's in D minor. 

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The saddest of all keys...

[paul_c2]

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:21, MacDaddy said:

 

The saddest of all keys...

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Actually, Eb minor makes me quite teary, especially when a community orchestra is trying to play in it..........

[Dazed]

The older I get the more sensitive to

music I seem to become. Even happy tunes can start me going. 

[asingardenof]

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:21, MacDaddy said:

 

The saddest of all keys...

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F makes our synthist sad but he has a damaged and bandaged thumb so playing the black keys is tricky for him. I may or may not have started referring to this as "Gary's racist thumb" - in a white covering and hates the blacks...

[nilorius]

By vocal invented sad song lyrics.

Edited August 4, 2023 by nilorius

[Waddo Soqable]

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:37, Dazed said:

The older I get the more sensitive to

music I seem to become. Even happy tunes can start me going. 

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With me it's the reverse, I'm even more cynical than I was in the first place.... 

[tauzero]

Because Morrissey is singing on it.

[Bolo]

Counterpoint: when you're sad, your favourite sad music can cheer you up!

[Rich]

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:21, MacDaddy said:

 

The saddest of all keys...

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Simple lines, intertwining.

 

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:37, Dazed said:

The older I get the more sensitive to

music I seem to become. Even happy tunes can start me going. 

Expand  

 

  On 03/08/2023 at 22:03, Waddo Soqable said:

With me it's the reverse, I'm even more cynical than I was in the first place.... 

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I'm a mixture of these two. As I've grown older, I have become the most dreadful cynic about most things. You know in Monty Python & the Holy Grail, where they first sight Camelot and the old geezer goes "bleh, it's only a model"? That's me, that is. But having said that, I have become incredibly sensitive to films, TV and especially music. Some pieces have always set me going, Elgar's 'Nimrod' leaves me in helpless floods for example, but now I find my eyes pricking when I listen to all manner of things. Even happy things. Bloody southern softie.

[Burns-bass]

  On 03/08/2023 at 20:43, asingardenof said:

F makes our synthist sad but he has a damaged and bandaged thumb so playing the black keys is tricky for him. I may or may not have started referring to this as "Gary's racist thumb" - in a white covering and hates the blacks...

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This is the sort of thing that’s funny in person but doesn’t always translate well when written down.

[Dazed]

  On 04/08/2023 at 08:36, Rich said:

Simple lines, intertwining.

 

 

I'm a mixture of these two. As I've grown older, I have become the most dreadful cynic about most things. You know in Monty Python & the Holy Grail, where they first sight Camelot and the old geezer goes "bleh, it's only a model"? That's me, that is. But having said that, I have become incredibly sensitive to films, TV and especially music. Some pieces have always set me going, Elgar's 'Nimrod' leaves me in helpless floods for example, but now I find my eyes pricking when I listen to all manner of things. Even happy things. Bloody southern softie.

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Don’t get me wrong, I started off as a huge cynic about a lot of things and that hasn’t got any better with age 😄
Turns out I’m a soft northern monkey, with a resting “don’t speak to me “ face

[pfretrock]

I find this a bit sombre (but good). Written just after WW1, Elgar had lost friends and horses and was not living at his beloved Malvern

 

 

[asingardenof]

  On 04/08/2023 at 08:48, Burns-bass said:

This is the sort of thing that’s funny in person but doesn’t always translate well when written down.

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That's fair, apologies for the poor taste of the comment.

[Burns-bass]

  On 04/08/2023 at 12:05, asingardenof said:

That's fair, apologies for the poor taste of the comment.

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It’s all good, I didn’t want anyone to get upset as I’m sure you didn’t mean anything bad by it.

[snorkie635]

I find myself crying every time our guitarist plays anything.

[bubinga5]

Ive always preferred the minor key for some reason.Maybe that says something about ones personality. I find this piece of music utterly sublime, utterly sad. But an utterly amazing score from Wojciech Kilar. The strings are just fabulous. 

 

[LowB_FTW]

I don't know what it is about ABBA, but hearing pretty much anything by that band depresses me.

And I don't mean that in the usual sense of when someone says something depresses them, it actually does trigger my depression, the same way alcohol used to, so I became t-total to avoid that happening.

It's very unusual and as far as I'm aware this is the only band that effects me like this.

 

Mark