Why Some Chords Give You Goosebumps
1. The Science of Chords
Music is a unique form of art. Just by playing certain sounds in a specific order you can create a rather intense emotional reaction. This is why it is often used in movies as a kind of emotional enhancement and also why it is entertaining to go and watch an artist reproduce the music live on stage even if they aren’t doing anything visually interesting.
But what about music creates such an emotional response?
Well, the biggest contributing factors is the idea of dissonance and consonance. Dissonant notes feel like they are rubbing against each other and they sound like they are clashing, while consonant notes feel like they are working together and have a sense of unity to the sound.
Contrary to what many may think, consonance and dissonance are actually on a spectrum rather than a binary. Meaning that some note combinations are more consonant or more dissonant than others.
The most consonant combination of notes is if they are in “unison”, where the same note is being played by two instruments. This is the most consonant combination because the notes are vibrating at exactly the same hertz (e.g. A - 440hz). The next most consonant combination of notes would be an octave because this is double the frequency (e.g. A - 440hz and A - 880hz). This means that every other wave in the vibration comes together. After this we have 5ths which vibrate at 1.5x the rate (e.g. A - 440 and E - 660).
So, as the notes become less and less synchronised they become more dissonant!
Notes that are very consonant sound strong together and reliable and as the notes become less consonant they start to create more interesting qualities of sound. This is why in a regular triad (note 1, 3 and 5) the 1st and 5th note are pillar notes and feel very consonant, and the middle note is a little less consonant and creates the interesting quality of sound that makes a chord major or minor. It is also why 7ths chords have an even more unique and interesting quality of sound.
So, in the context of music, dissonance isn’t a bad thing! It is the very reason that music sounds interesting. Even more so when that dissonance is resolved to a more consonant sound to release some of the tension created.
2. Expectation and Surprise
When we hear particularly dissonant combination of notes, we naturally want to hear that tension get released. Imagine hearing two notes that are right next to each other rubbing against each other very loudly. If one of these notes moved to merge with the other note (unison), this would sound very tense and then as the notes merge you would feel a release of that tension.
This is the most extreme form of tension and release, however, this happens all of the time in music in a much more subtle way. Another great example of this phenomenon is a sus2 or sus4 chord. A regular triad is made using note 1, 3 and 5 of a scale. In a sus2 chord the middle note is replaced with note 2 of the scale and in a sus4 chord, the middle note is replaced with note 4 of the scale. These notes are much more dissonant than the regular 3rd that we hear in a triad, so when we hear a sus2 or sus4 chord resolve back to a regular triad we feel a sense of relief.
On a much larger scale, the same concept of consonance and dissonance can be applied to entire chords.
When we are listening to a piece of music, we are naturally able to predict the scale and the notes that we expect to hear. If a piece of music is in the key of C major, then if we hear a C major chord (chord 1 in C major) this feels the most consonant and like home. Typically in a piece of music, we begin with this chord and then the rest of the music is just a long journey back to this feeling of arriving at home on this chord at the end.
Chord 1 is the most consonant in a scale and chord 5 is the next most consonant. So hearing chord 5 moving to chord 1 is a very satisfying return to home.
However, with expectation comes the opportunity to defy expectations. This means that sometimes in music, the experience is enhanced by setting up resolutions and then doing something unexpected. For example instead of moving back home to chord 1 after a chord 5, the chord could lift to a different chord and create a sense of euphoria or move somewhere else to create another surprising emotion.
3. Enhancing the Effect
So this is how music creates emotion from consonance and dissonance, however how does it actually create such an effect like goosebumps?
Well, although consonance and dissonance plays the largest role in creating an emotional effect in music. There is one other effect that plays a significant role on how much of an impact music has and that is experience!
Ultimately, music has its biggest impact when you can relate to it. This is why movie music is much easier for none musicians to understand - the meaning of the music is very evident via the story that is being told in the movie. However, with music by itself we tend to relate to the music in two ways.
Firstly, we relate to it via the associations we make between the music and our previous experience of life and music. This is why different cultures have different sounds that they prefer, their previous life experience has a very different soundtrack to the one we have. So, if we hear something twinkly (for example) then we could associate this with stars - because we have this association from children’s songs like twinkle twinkle little star or night time being associated with softer sounds to fall asleep to as children.
Secondly, music itself tends to embody the physical reality of what it is trying to represent. Love is a much more passionate yet soft emotion whereas aggression is a much more turbulent and erratic emotion. Music can use consonance and dissonance to directly represent these emotions too.
So, by using the scientific reality of music along with the cultural and subjective experiences you have had throughout your life, music has a unique ability to create a strong emotional reaction.
Matthew Cawood
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