Music and our Emotions

Music can have a powerful effect on our emotions. Whether we are listening to music to change our mood or just listening for pleasure, it can affect the way we think and the way we feel.
Music can change peoples' emotions in a variety of different ways. For example, if one were to listen to music from the heavy metal group, Slipknot, feelings of high energy and possibly contempt for something or someone may come about. But if one were to listen to the happy tones and lyrics of The Beatles, a much different set of feelings arises. According to studies conducted by the Psychology Press, music is a complex acoustic and temporal structure which posses the ability to induce emotional responses in the listeners. Music with emphasis on heavy bass, percussion and brass instruments is known to affect emotions more rapidly than others.

Singer/Songwriter Jon Haverfield says that music definitely has an effect on his mood.

"If I'm in a down mood, i just turn on a song from the nineties. It reminds me of the good times"

Haverfield has been singing and writing songs for over 10 years and he says it definitely has the power to provoke certain emotions and thoughts.

"Music makes you think and gives you a better outlook on life."

So whether you are listening to the soundtrack to a Disney Movie, or rocking out to techno before a party, Music is, whether you think about it or not, changing your emotional state. We all have that one song that puts us in that place where everything is good.