Music -- Physiological effect; Music, Influence of
Although rhythmic song will not necessarily elicit obvious motor
responses in all subjects, the wide-spread use of work songs among
groups of people engaged at hard work on land or sea throughout the
world is indicative of the value of background rhythm for communal
effort. Mursell[60] believes that “any notion that pure or ‘naked’
rhythm is more effective than rhythm clothed in tone is open to very
serious doubt.” But the chief effect of marked rhythm is the feeling of
excitement and happiness which it can arouse. Rhythm gives us a certain
pleasure because of its orderliness to which the mind is sensible.
_Melody_ as a musical element contributes chiefly to restfulness.[71]
If it is simple and recognizable it will recall other times and rest
the mind from the thoughts of present problems. If it is complex and
new it will distract the more musical but have a less desirable effect
on the uninterested.
_Mode._ The term _mode_ is applied to the arrangement of whole and
half-tones in the musical scale construction. Of the many possible
modes only two are used in our present system of music, the _major_
and the _minor_. There is only one form of the major mode, and it is
the one most people recall when they think of the scale. There are
three forms of the minor mode, but of these the _harmonic_ is the most
frequently used. It is formed by lowering the third and sixth notes by
a half-tone.[80]
When an author pioneers convincingly in a field which has long needed
clarification, it is likely that even his questionable remarks will
be accepted with the same degree of authority as his scientific
statements. In 1722, Rameau[68] published a treatise on harmony which
received wide acceptance because of its excellence and comprehension,
but in that work he prejudiced many of the writers who followed into
believing that the major triad was more pleasing and beautiful than the
minor. This concept was not only adopted but embroidered. Hauptman[44]
likened the minor triad to the branches of the weeping willow and
hence attributed to it a mournful downward drawing power. To the major
triad he assigned the property of an upward driving force. (When this
is taken literally, as it was, and applied to the patient, we can see
clearly why remarkable attributes were claimed for music.)
Now there is little doubt that if the triad of C minor is struck on a
piano after that of C major, most people will describe the sensation
elicited by the sound of the minor chord as melancholy. Helmholtz[46]
attributed the veiled or sad effect of a minor chord to certain notes
foreign to the chord which physical reasoning expects.
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