We want to investigate why certain individuals have preferences for specific music and artists. Additionally, we would like to explore the significance of music, its connection to human history and our prehistoric predecessors, and its relationship to human sociology.

Organizing Topics

Our first step is to find appropriate topics to research that will lead us toward answering the problem and drawing a conclusion. After we have established potential research topics, we must prioritize and refine our choices to those which are the most relevant. Once we clearly understand our research goals and methodology, we can begin collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and ultimately sharing our findings with others in the field.

Gathering Sources

Once we have gained an initial understanding of the topics we will be researching, we can search for credible sources such as web articles and books. We will be using the Calgary Public Library to search for books on related subjects and we will gather information from studies and articles online, as well as build on to our existing knowledge in this area. After collecting research sources we can begin to combine our findings and draw a conclusion.

Collecting Research

Using the sources we gathered we will be searching them for information relevant to our problem. Then we will take note of all the points that are related to the appropriate topics we discovered earlier. We will collect all our research in Google Slides so we can easily view the research we have compiled. Once we have finished we can start to create a conclusion by merging the ideas we found.

Drawing a Conclusion

Our final step is to blend all the facts into a solid answer to our problem. We will summarize all the research we have gathered and our existing knowledge to create an answer to the question. Then we will be able to compare this to our original hypothesis and prove it correct or incorrect. 

The Limbic System

What is it?

It appears to border/ be between the cerebral cortex and the diencephalon. Its job is to process and regulate emotions and deal with sexual stimulation and learning. It is most commonly known for emotions. This system also is where we enjoy music.

Structures

 There is no real amount of structure in this system and some experts think that we should not be classifying something as complex as emotions into one system, but structures that are commonly associated with this system are the amygdala (fear and anxiety), hippocampus (memory), parahippocampal gyrus (memory), cingulate cortex (emotion and memory), septal nuclei (connected to other structures in limbic system and important for pleasure, reward and reinforcement), mammillary body (two nuclei involved with memory and connect to amygdala and hippocampus), fornix (carries info from hippocampus, mamillary body, thalamus), hypothalamus (controls hormone release), 

 

How Music Affects Our Brains

This is a brain scan of a someone listening to music. The red areas are when his brain activities are above average. The blue parts are when it is below average.

This shows that music is not just on the right side of the brain but rather all over.

 

Music travelling to different areas of the brain

• Auditory cortex - tracks loudness, pitch, rhythm, Tambor

• Visual cortex - reading or watching music

• Motor cortex - when you are physically reacting to the music (clapping or tapping your feet)

• Cerebellum - controls the emotional responses

• Hippocampus - memory

 

Listening to Music - Emotional and Physical 

When listening to certain songs our brain will connect the auditory region to the emotional region. Certain songs will connect to people more than others. When singers sing high-pitched notes, our brains can sometimes think that it's a scream so we will jump and feel chills all across our bodies. 

How does the brain react to music?

• Increases blood flow to the limbic system (part of the part that regulates and controls emotions)

• The sort of “chills” are because of dopamines that are released from the brain

  • The more we listen to a song and become familiar with that song, our body will release dopamine 

• Music has always been a part of human culture 

• We see music as pleasure because our prefrontal cortex (our thinking and rational part of the brain) will activate and we realize that nothing is threatening to happen

Why do Certain Sounds make us happy?

Hydrotherapy (water sounds) - a sort of rhythm is created (primal rhythm) that can calm down our hyper minds, control our breathing, and recall memories of peaceful times that were usually spent in nature. It reminds us of more peaceful times as nature is a big part of our lives from the second we are born

Crackling fire - people feel calm and sometimes drowsy from this because of our interest in fire from prehistoric times (one of the first tools humankind ever had). The crackling of fire reawakens a primitive sort of response.

Repetitive sounds (ex: crunching leaves) - they usually have more of a staccato type of rhythm which can wake our brains up and give them energy, rather than put us to sleep. 

Vehicles rolling up gravel drive - fills us with excitement because it is associated with people like family members or friends coming home or to your house.

Laughter - they are born from joy and can be classified as happiness. It can spread from one person to another so when hear someone else laugh you feel happy because you can tell that they are happy.

White noise - this helps us calm us down. It “absorbs” background noise and creates a steady background noise.

 

Harmony in Music- What sounds good and what doesn’t

Aside from what kind of sound, the notes played or heard make a difference. Certain notes sound good or bad together

• For example, two notes a semitone away  (ex. The pitches B and C) generally sound “bad” or “messy”, while two notes two whole tones (ex. The pitches C and E) away sound musical

The Equal Temperament system is a musical system that involves dividing an octave into 12 semitones, each an equal distance away from the other. All music you hear and know today was composed and played using this system. It has been the most popular system since the 18th century and was invented before then. What makes this the go-to musical system?

The tonal system is a musical framework based on major and minor scales - the most common way to organize pitch in music. It consists of twelve notes, grouped into major and minor scales. The major scale determines the key of a piece and the minor scale creates tension in music. It's widely used in classical, jazz, and rock music. Today, we almost always think of pieces composed in a major key as “happy” and pieces in a minor key as “sad”. Why?

History of Music

The Middle Ages- The Renaissance

The Middle Ages- 

At this time, music was just basic singing, used for religious purposes, the text was generally biblical and was sung in church. One of the earliest types of music was the Gregorian Chant. An example of this is the Haec dies chant. Music sung for the church was usually written in Latin. The first music was monophonic.

Haec dies (Easter Sunday) | Canto Gregoriano | Gregorian Chant 

Monophonic Texture: Music consisting of a single line of melody, with no harmony or accompaniment

The organum and motet followed the chant, adding more voices (polyphony). An example of an organum is the Haec Dies organum. The signing was generally very melismatic. 

Haec Dies (Organum)  

Polyphonic Texture: Two or more independent melodic lines heard simultaneously; referred to as contrapuntal texture

Melismatic Text Setting: Many notes for each syllable of text

During the Renaissance, more secular types of music were added into the mix, as well as more harmony and polyphony. New forms of music were introduced such as the mass (a piece written to be sung in church), the motet, and the secular
madrigal. 

Polyphonic Texture: Two or more independent melodic lines heard simultaneously; referred to as contrapuntal texture

Melismatic Text Setting: Many notes for each syllable of text

During the Renaissance, more secular types of music were added into the mix, as well as more harmony and polyphony. New forms of music were introduced such as the mass (a piece written to be sung in church), the motet, and the secular
madrigal. 

motet: vocal composition with or without instrumental accompaniment, usually anonymous and often polytextual in the 13th century

poly-textuality: two or more texts heard simultaneously; as a result, the words can sometimes be hard to distinguish

Mass: the most important ceremony in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church; consists of prayers that do not change from day to day (Ordinary) and prayers that change depending on the calendar (Proper)

Madrigal: a popular secular vocal genre that flourished in the 16th century; based on an intimate relationship between poetry and music

Renaissance- Baroque

Carlo Gesualdo - Sesto libro di madrigali: XVII. Moro, lasso, al mio duolo - an example of a madrigal

One of the shifts between music in the Renaissance and music in the Middle Ages is the text. Music went from purely religious in the Middle Ages to having a lot of secular lyrics in the Renaissance. This can be tied into the idea of humanism- an idea started during the Renaissance about centring thoughts on humans and their capacities and emotions- a focus on the current life instead of the afterlife- a focus on us instead of on God. This paradigm shift asks the question: how much of the music we listen to is about the lyrics and how much of it is about the tune?

Renaissance music contained steady beats, balanced phrases, and polyphony. It also focused on the relationship between text and tune using word painting- a method where poetic images were depicted musically. Music was used to worship in churches, entertain the wealthy, as well as many other utilizations.

Another musical shift that happened during the Renaissance was that more instruments were introduced such as early brass instruments, string instruments, and the harpsichord

The next period in history and art- and ultimately music- was the Baroque era. One of the important trends that changed during this era is that music gradually became more popular in purely instrumental styles, instead of the song-based Middle Ages and Renaissance. 

The Baroque Era included many intense changes in music. It introduced a new form of music which became wildly popular- the opera. This is a genre many of us enjoy even today! The opera was a musical work that mixed visual arts and acting with music. A stage, props, actors, music, and singing were used to portray a story. The stories were both sacred and secular- operas were enjoyed by many people. Back then, you didn’t watch TV or listen to the radio. Operas and live music were the next best things. 

Here is one of the most famous examples of Baroque music. I’m SURE you’ve heard it before.

Hallelujah Chorus, from Messiah | The Tabernacle Choir 

By now, music was rarely a capella (sung without instrumental accompaniment). Keyboard instruments grew in popularity day by day. This led to the invention of the Equal Temperament system that we discussed earlier. 

The Baroque Era is now the stage where the music starts to sound like what we consider “normal”. Today we listen to it and enjoy it. 

Baroque- From the Portuguese word barroco, meaning irregularly shaped pearl, now applied to art, architecture, and music of the 17th and 18th centuries

Baroque Era-Classical Era

A very important part of the music of the Baroque Era is that the idea of major and minor tonalities became key in music. From the Baroque to the Classical Era ( 1730-1820), music became more and more popular in instrumental formats. Other musical style elements however did not have a dramatic change. 

After the Classical Era, the idea of dissonance increased in popularity. Dissonance included things that sometimes didn’t sound perfectly musically “right”. Notes outside of the tonal/key centre were used and new chords and scales were invented and used in music. Some tones and intervals sounded “clashing” and some melodies sounded “incorrect”. However, the music was still structured- even if it seemed ambiguous. 

That brings us to pretty much today. Music today includes a huge range of different styles and types. Popular forms of music include both songs and instrumental music. You can see that music trends have come a long way and likely will keep changing until the end of humanity. 

Music Induces Emotion- Nostalgia

Listening to music causes our brain to light up and connect with all our senses, creating a “snapshot” in our memory that we can relive when we listen to the music again. When listening to nostalgic music we are filled with emotions of warm and fuzzy yearning.

“When a song taps into our brain and stirs up some nostalgic emotion, it often triggers memories we have of childhood, happiness, friendship, being a teenager, self-discovery, love, college, homesickness, regret and forgiveness, to name a few.”

-DB Damage is a freelance content writer passionate about creative subjects like music, film, and video games. He studied I.T. and music technology at college and has a background in managing and promoting local bands.

Nostalgia- I’m sure we’ve all experienced this. Listening to a movie soundtrack or an epic song that hits hard because of all the memories can put emotions of happiness and yearning into our heads. When we listen to music, it can bring so many memories that were dormant for years.

Music Induces Emotion- Music makes us dance

Have you ever turned on some music and just started moving to the beat without really thinking? Why is it that this happens? People are attracted to move in time to the pulse-like beat of the music. Music heavily compels us to dance or just tap or bob along. A study done by scientists in Australia showed that people’s brain activity seemed to sync with the beat while they listened to music. The heavier the bass, the more inclined people were to move along with the music. Lower-frequency tones are more likely to get people to move with the music. 

The type of music that just makes you start dancing unconsciously can be pretty appealing to most people. The beat also determines the energy of the piece- slow and calm or fast and furious.

Music Induces Emotion- Major and Minor

Most of us know that in basic terms, major key music is “happy” and minor key music is “sad”. However, this is only true to a limited extent. Many examples of music break this rule. 

According to BBC’s Science Focus, this major-minor phenomenon is somehow reflected in natural language. Interestingly, sad speech follows the patterns of a minor chord while happy speech follows the patterns of a major chord. Studies have shown that each chord stimulates distinctly different brain activity trends in the emotional region of the brain.

However, this seems to be mostly caused by cultural conditioning. The tunes we listen to are heavily affected by the memory of music we have heard in the past. This causes a lot of our musical thoughts to be based on stereotypes. 

In conclusion, biological and mathematical elements do contribute to the way our brains are biased towards major key music conveying happiness and minor key music conveying sadness.

Enjoying Music- Making Predictions

A surprising reason we enjoy music is that we are always predicting what will happen next in the music- whether we realize it or not. Our brains are always calculating what will happen next. If we guess correctly, the brain releases dopamine, a chemical which makes us feel good. Our brains love patterns, which is why unfamiliar or new types of music might sound strange and we might not like them as much. 

Listening to music gives us the same reward feeling as eating or receiving money. Many people enjoy the rush of dopamine they get while listening to music. 

Interestingly enough, we also enjoy music that has unexpected elements in it. If we listen to the same thing over and over again, sometimes it doesn’t sound as good. Sudden dynamic changes or tempo changes can give people a strong emotional response.

 

Music Induces Emotion- The Connection to Speech

The emotion in music can be connected to natural patterns of human language. Speech includes elements of music such as pitch, tone, tempo, and dynamics. These variables could connect emotions in one’s voice to emotions in music. 

 

     

    By looking at different forms of media we wanted to determine why music appeals to us. We wanted to learn why certain music naturally sounds good to us and why others seem to hurt our ears. We both wished to understand the relationship between the brain and music. Originally, we believed that this was due to our prehistoric instincts. We had a survival instinct which associated certain sounds with being dangerous and others with being safe. 

    Our hearing is one of our most powerful senses. It was the third sense developed 250 million years ago. It was developed before taste and touch. Humans have used it to determine whether or not danger was approaching and where it was coming from. Through our ears, we have determined whether or not something is friendly or hostile. We believe that traces of this phenomenon still appear in humans today. We determine whether or not music sounds good through this sense. 

    The limbic system is a part of the nervous system responsible for handling emotions, learning, and sexual stimulation. This system consists of structures including the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. As we listen to music our auditory cortex, visual cortex, and cerebellum are activated, and the blood flow to the limbic system is increased. Many emotional and physical responses are triggered as we listen to music; for example, dopamine is released from the brain. This can cause the sensation we call "chills".
    
    Some sounds affect our emotions and moods in various ways. For instance, trickling water or fire sounds can create a calming effect. Some repetitive sounds such as crunching leaves can wake up our brains. Some noises we associate with memories over time- like the excitement of vehicles rolling up the gravel driveway or the footsteps you've heard so often you remember them. These sounds can have a primal effect on us from an evolutionary standpoint, relating to how we react to music.

    Music is a lot more than sounds. The harmony and relationship between notes are wildly important. Some notes sound pleasant together and some that clash and sound dissonant. Since the 18th century, the Equal Temperament system has been the most popular musical system, dividing an octave into 12 equal semitones. Major and minor scales and key signatures are commonly used in all types of music, appealing to our ears and brains.

    Music strongly affects our emotions and memories. Sometimes hearing music triggers nostalgia. Music connected to important life events such as your childhood or a favourite movie may trigger memories, causing a feeling of fuzzy yearning. A heavy beat can compel us to move our bodies in time to the music. Major and minor keys can also affect our emotions. Happiness is generally depicted by major keys and minor keys generally convey sadness. However, this isn't always true and is heavily influenced by past experiences and cultural conditioning.

    The emotional impact of music can be compared to the natural patterns of human speech. Certain elements of music such as pitch, tone, tempo, and dynamics are comparable to the variables present in speech. The brain enjoys music because it constantly predicts what will happen next in the song, and when we guess correctly, our brains release dopamine, a chemical that makes us feel good. Our brains love patterns, which is why we tend to enjoy familiar music. However, we also enjoy music with unexpected elements, such as sudden dynamic changes or changes in tempo, which can give us a strong emotional response.

 

Works Cited

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Cinti, Ray. “2-Minute Neuroscience: Limbic System.” YouTube, 17 January 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNs9ruzoTmI. Accessed 6 January 2024.

“Equal temperament | Definition & Facts.” Britannica, 30 May 2019, https://www.britannica.com/art/equal-temperament. Accessed 11 November 2023.

“Ever Wondered Why Music Is So Nostalgic? Here's the Science Behind It.” Sound of Life, 4 February 2023, https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/mixtape/nostalgic-music. Accessed 6 January 2024.

Fink, Jennifer LW. “Why — and How — Music Moves Us.” Pfizer, 2023, https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us. Accessed 6 January 2024.

Guy, Olivia. “What Is The Limbic System? Definition, Parts, And Functions.” Simply Psychology, 13 October 2023, https://www.simplypsychology.org/limbic-system.html. Accessed 6 January 2024.

“Healing through music.” Harvard Health, 5 November 2015, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/healing-through-music-201511058556. Accessed 14 March 2024.

Heshmat, Shahram. “5 Reasons Why We Listen to Music.” Psychology Today, 14 October 2021, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/202110/5-reasons-why-we-listen-music. Accessed 8 January 2024.

“How Does Music Affect Your Brain? | Tech Effects | WIRED.” YouTube, 15 March 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRE624795zU. Accessed 6 January 2024.

Jennings, Alistair. “Why does music make us emotional?” Inside Science, 29 December 2017, https://www.insidescience.org/video/why-does-music-make-us-emotional. Accessed 8 January 2024.

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“Listening in the brain | MESHGuides.” MESH Guide, 16 April 2021, https://meshguides.org/guides/node/2197. Accessed 6 January 2024.

Loveday, Catherine. “Why are minor chords sad and major chords happy?” BBC Science Focus, 3 July 2022, https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-are-minor-chords-sad-and-major-chords-happy. Accessed 8 January 2024.

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“Science shows why our taste in music can't be siloed into catch-all genres.” Frontiers, 7 June 2023, https://blog.frontiersin.org/2023/06/07/taste-music-genres-subgenres/. Accessed 28 October 2023.

“3.2: Music of the Renaissance.” Humanities LibreTexts, 30 April 2023, https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Music/Music_Appreciation/Understanding_Music_-_Past_and_Present_(Clark_et_al.)/03%3A_Music_of_the_Renaissance/3.02%3A_Worship_Music. Accessed 27 December 2023.

Warneck, Larissa. “DW's Health News: Why does music make us dance? – DW – 08/28/2018.” DW, 28 August 2018, https://www.dw.com/en/dws-health-news-why-does-music-make-us-dance/a-45246371. Accessed 96 January 2024.

“Why does music evoke certain emotions, even if it doesn't have lyrics?” New Scientist, 6 April 2022, https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg25433812-900-why-does-music-evoke-certain-emotions-even-if-it-doesnt-have-lyrics/. Accessed 8 January 2024.

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We would like to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude to all the wonderful individuals who assisted us in completing our science fair project. Firstly, we are immensely grateful to our parents for their unwavering support and encouragement. They provided us with constant motivation and financial support as well as necessary resources, which were instrumental in helping us complete this project. Without their unwavering support, we wouldn't have been able to make it to the finish line.

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Sandra Scott and Ms. Marion Irsa, our exceptional teachers, whose guidance and support played an indispensable role in making this project a success. Their invaluable advice, suggestions, and feedback helped us to improve our project and make it more impactful. They were always available to answer our countless questions, and their unwavering support and mentorship truly made a significant difference.

Last but not least, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Ms. Kaitlin Friesen for her outstanding support and mentorship throughout the project. Her devotion, guidance, and expert insights helped us to overcome numerous challenges and obstacles, and we are truly grateful for her unwavering support.

We also want to thank all those who supported us on this incredible journey, including our friends and family members. Your support, encouragement, and motivation were truly appreciated, and we are grateful for your unwavering support. We appreciate your contributions and are grateful for all you have done to help us make this project a tremendous success.