Thanks to Paul Davis for sending this NPR piece on music. A man has gone back and changed certain sad songs to happy just by moving them from major to minor key. He also took a happy song like “Hey, Jude” and completely changed it’s feel by shifting it to minor key. What is it in the brain that hears certain music as sad, and other music as happy? It’s a fascinating study.
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=173832177&m=173843031
As a composer, I find this to be even more strange. When I am trying to express something inside me, it seems to be impossible to write, say, a very sad piece in a major key, or vice versa.
Jimmy,
That’s probably why many artists feel that some Muse is being expressed through them. In deep creativity it feels like we are the instruments being played.