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Amelia

21 years ancient. Weird. And sometimes ridiculous.

Some things I love and in no particular order:

The Beatles, Ani DiFranco, Harry Potter, Sushi, Alexisonfire, The Mighty Boosh, Born Ruffians, Sherlock (BBC 2010 to be specific), Doctor Who, Studio Ghibli movies.

Follow me on Twitter.

jtotheizzoe: The Science of Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone Cry Tension, resolution, and the ever important “buildy-ness” (which is a term I invented but is accurate), these are the characteristics behind the most extreme emotional reactions to songs: 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.” Chills often descend on listeners at these moments of resolution. When several appoggiaturas occur next to each other in a melody, it generates a cycle of tension and release. This provokes an even stronger reaction, and that is when the tears start to flow. There’s just about the most detailed scientific analysis of a Grammy-winning song ever at the link. (via WSJ.com)

O________________O | Feb 14th

jtotheizzoe:

The Science of Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone Cry

Tension, resolution, and the ever important “buildy-ness” (which is a term I invented but is accurate), these are the characteristics behind the most extreme emotional reactions to songs:

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.”

Chills often descend on listeners at these moments of resolution. When several appoggiaturas occur next to each other in a melody, it generates a cycle of tension and release. This provokes an even stronger reaction, and that is when the tears start to flow.

There’s just about the most detailed scientific analysis of a Grammy-winning song ever at the link.

(via WSJ.com)

(via inlay-heaven-with-stars)

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    So interesting…
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    Finally, an explanation for why “Someone Like You” and “Somebody That I Used to Know” are so popular while being so...
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