How Many Emotions Can Music Make You Feel?

greatergood.berkeley.edu

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Music is a universal language

Music can evoke many nuanced emotions. We don't always pay enough attention to what music is saying or how it's being understood. For instance:

Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” make people feel energized.
The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah” pump people up.
Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” evoke sensuality.
Israel (Iz) Kamakawiwoʻole’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” elicits joy.
Heavy metal is widely viewed as defiant.

Music triggers feelings

The subjective experience of music can be mapped within at least 13 overarching feelings: amusement, joy, eroticism, beauty, relaxation, sadness, dreaminess, triumph, anxiety, scariness, annoyance, defiance, and feeling pumped up.

Research findings on music can have potential applications:

informing psychological and psychiatric therapies to produce certain feelings.
helping music streaming services adjust their algorithms to satisfy their customers' audio needs.

Perceptions across cultures

In a study, people from different cultures mostly agreed on general emotional characterizations of musical sounds, such as anger, joy, or annoyance. They agreed that a song is angry but differ on whether the feeling is positive or negative.