The art and music of listening.
Article continues below articleThe study, which was led by Professor David McManus at the University of Melbourne, looked at music, art and dance, which includes both traditional and electronic genres.
“There’s something about the sound of music that we like, it has an emotional quality that makes us feel good,” he said.
“When we listen to music, we’re not just listening to music but listening to our innermost thoughts, our feelings and emotions.”
The research involved analysing more than 2,500 songs from a wide range of genres, including pop, jazz, blues, rock, country, jazz and hip-hop.
It also included a survey of about 600 people across Australia, with the results published in the Journal of Experimental Musicology on Tuesday.
“We found there are three key areas of music which are particularly well-suited to listening to at a moment’s notice: listening to the sound, hearing music and imagining music,” Dr McManuse said.
The study was funded by the Australian Research Council, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, The Australian Music Foundation and the Australian Arts Council.
Topics:music,music-industry,arts-and-entertainment,art-music,perth-6000,australia