Abstract
The first part of this article addresses the main premise of the Theory of Musical Equilibration. It states that in contrast to previous hypotheses, music does not directly describe emotions: instead; it evokes processes of the will which the listener identifies with. It is not until these processes are experienced that music appears to take on an emotional character. The second part of the article focuses on demonstrating the emotional nature of musical harmonies. The Basic Test and the Rocky Test are presented. These tests were designed to find correlations between chords and scenes from fairy tales as well as emotional terms. 86% of the participants correlated the musical selection to the emotion outlined by the Theory of Musical Equilibration the authors developed in this context.
Highlights
The correlation between music and emotions is not something we think about much until we consider what music really is
The Basic Test and the Rocky Test are presented. These tests were designed to find correlations between chords and scenes from fairy tales as well as emotional terms. 86% of the participants correlated the musical selection to the emotion outlined by the Theory of Musical Equilibration the authors developed in this context
To the best of our knowledge, the theory of Musical Equilibration [1] is the first to create a psychological paradigm which explains the emotional effects of music
Summary
The correlation between music and emotions is not something we think about much until we consider what music really is. To the best of our knowledge, the theory of Musical Equilibration [1] (known in the original German as the Strebetendenz-Theorie [2]) is the first to create a psychological paradigm which explains the emotional effects of music. It breaks down musical sequences into one of their most essential components harmonies and directly uses this material as the basis of its argumentation. 2100 participants at German schools in Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America took part in studies on the Theory of Musical Equilibration [1]. More detailed information about the Theory and the methodology of our research can be found in our primary publication, Music and Emotions-Research on the Theory of Musical Equilibration [1]
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