Emotion in Music

Presented by:Jennifer Pepper

& Mina Fan

10 Facts

• Music has been shown to be a reliable medium for mood induction (De L’Etoile, S., 2002).

• There is greater variability in listeners’ responses when they use free description than when they use forced choice or adjective ratings (Juslin & Laukka, 1997).

• Emotion in music is recognizable because music performance and speech share similar aspects such as tempo, loudness, and timbre (Juslin, P.N., 1997).

• Fast music and speech were judged as having greater energy than slow music and speech. (Lindstrom, 2003).

• There is no difference in decoding emotional expression in musical performances accuracy between musically trained and untrained listeners (Juslin, P.N., 1997).

10 Facts• It has been shown that composers can convey intended emotions

to a listener through music (Thompson & Robitailee, 1992).• String players in professional orchestras feel they have little

autonomy to make creative musical decisions, that it is in the hands of the conductor. There is a lack of control to make performance decisions. There is lack of individual autonomy over the nature of their performance (Dobson, 2010).

• Happy, sad and scared/fearful emotions are recognized in music across cultures (Fritz, 2009).

• Accent on a tense note enhanced the intensity of associated anger. Major mode affected perception of happiness, minor mode affected perception of sadness (Krumhansl, 1997).

• Different musical features such as pitch, mode, melodic progression, rhythm, tempo, sound level, articulation and timbre were important for different emotions (Juslin, 2011).

Purpose

• To test the accuracy of Hevner’s Adjective Circle.

• To determine if perceptions of emotion in music are different between music majors versus non-music majors; specifically perceptions about composers, performers and audience.

Part I

• Gender: __Male ___Female• Declared Major: __Music ___Other• How many years of musical training have

you had? ____ (answer zero if you have no musical training)

5

15

Gender

MaleFemale 1010

Major

MusicNon-Music

Years of Musical Training

MusicNon-Music

Range

9-20 0-8

Category 6:

BrightCheerful

GayHappyJoyousMerry

Category 5:

• Delicate• Fanciful• Graceful

• Humourous• Light

• Playful• Quaint

• Sprightly• Whimsical Category

4:• Calm

• Leisurely• Lyrical• Quiet

• Serene• Soothing• Tranquil

Category 3:

• Dreamy• Longing• Plaintive• Pleading

• Sentimental• Tender

• Yearning• Yielding

Category 2:

• Dark• Depressing

• Doleful• Frustrated• Gloomy• Heavy

• Melancholy• Mournful• Pathetic

• Sad• Tragic

Category 1:

• Awe-inspiring

• Dignified• Loftly• Sacred• Serious• Sober

• Solemn• Spiritual

Category 8:

• Emphatic• Exalting• Majestic• Martial

• Ponderous• Robust

• Vigorous

Category 7:

• Agitated• Dramatic• Exciting

• Exhilerated• Impetuous• Passionate• Restless

• Sensation• Soaring

• Triumphant

Part II

Category 3

Category 4

5

15

107

3

Categ

ory

1

Categ

ory

2

Categ

ory

3

Categ

ory

7

2

15

2 1Target 2

Target 4

Target 7

Part III• Do you think that the composers who wrote these pieces of

music were intentionally trying to convey those emotions?

• Do you think that the performer’s current state of emotion while performing these pieces of music influenced their performance?

• Do you, as the listener, think that the music has the capability to influence your emotions?

1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Agree

 Likert Scale

Do you think that the composers who wrote these pieces of music were intentionally trying to convey

those emotions?

Music Non-Music1

2

3

4

5

4 3.9

Range 3-5Range 2-5

Do you think that the performer’s current state of emotion while performing these pieces of music

influenced their performance?

Music Non-Music1

2

3

4

5

3.6 3.6

Range 2-5Range 2-5

Do you, as the listener, think that the music has the capability to influence your emotions?

Music Non-Music1

2

3

4

5

4.23.9

Range 3-5

Range 3-5

Conclusion

• Hevner’s adjective circle was 98.3% accurate – 59/60 responses were on target (or ±1)

• There were no significant differences in perceptions of music and emotion between music and non-music majors in relation to composing, performing or listening. – This was surprising because music majors have

more experience composing and performing than non-music majors.

Do Different or Same

• Different:– Larger sample– Use only non-music majors with zero

years of music training. • Same:

– Music samples

Thank You