YOUR HEAD ESSPLODE

British singer Adele went six for six at the GRAMMYs last night, and has so far sold more than six million copies of her album, 21, in the U.S. - that’s the most albums sold in a year since 2004. Fans of pop, hip-hop, indie rock and even hard rock are geeked on her heartfelt, soulful music. So, exactly why does a torch ballad like “Someone Like You” make so many different people feel so much? As the Wall Street Journal reports, it goes beyond the lyrics - there’s actually a calculated, scientific formula involved in making a song that tugs at your heartstrings. 

Twenty years ago, the British psychologist John Sloboda conducted a simple experiment. He asked music lovers to identify passages of songs that reliably set off a physical reaction, such as tears or goose bumps. Participants identified 20 tear-triggering passages, and when Dr. Sloboda analyzed their properties, a trend emerged: 18 contained a musical device called an “appoggiatura.”

An appoggiatura is a type of ornamental note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound. “This generates tension in the listener,” said Martin Guhn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia who co-wrote a 2007 study on the subject. “When the notes return to the anticipated melody, the tension resolves, and it feels good.”

The article goes on to say that this melodic intensity cues the release of dopamine in the listener’s brain, and, seeking another dopamine high, the listener will instinctively return to the song.

Of course, crafting a hit song that resonates in the hearts of millions isn’t all so scientific and failproof - otherwise every musician would be doing it, and such songs wouldn’t feel so special and unique. Still, it’s quite fascinating and humbling to see how easily we humans can be emotionally manipulated on an unconscious level. Read the full WSJ article here.