According to new research, people who find a note happy or sad are not universal, but can be influenced by culture.
Major key music is almost universally recognized inWestern culture, and minor key music is perceived as sad.
However, these emotional associations were not similarly recognized in the remote communities ofPapua New Guinea(PNG). Australia.
We compared the perceptions of major and minor notes by people living in Sydney with those of people living in remote villages in the Ulwar River Valley of PNG.
Scientists played a recording that combined one major and one minor melody or cadence to participants who reported which songs made them happy.
"Participants were asked to listen to chord and melody pairs with different major or minor, average pitch heights and show which pair was happy," co-author of the study. Eline tweeted. Smit.
This survey was conducted on 170 participants and was repeated on 79 Australians, including 60 non-musicians and 19 musicians in Sydney.
Majors reported greater happiness than minors in all communities, except for communities with minimal exposure to music such as the West.
"In the PNG community, we found strong evidence that majors reported greater happiness than majors in all communities except those with the least exposure to Western-style music. "Dr. Smit said.
"For melodies, one with a high average pitch (major melody) is more happy than one with a low average pitch (minor melody) in only one or both of the three PNG communities. There is strong evidence that it was reported. A group in Sydney, "she added.
The findings shed light on the role of familiarity with a particular culture, based on a particular emotional response to music.
"Convincing that for both the Sydney group and the PNG group, who have some exposure to Western music, familiarity plays a major role in the link between the main [note] and happiness. I found some evidence of this, "said Dr. Smit.
There may not be a universal effect of major harmony on the reported happiness melody, Dr. Smit further said, from one PNG group with minimal exposure to Western music. Evidence confirms or rejects this result.
"The results cannot rule out the possibility of universality, but the emotional valences of majors and minors are strongly associated with exposure to Western-influenced music and culture. It shows that there is, "the researchers wrote in the study.
