Music and metaphors:
Why do we say that music ascends or descends – with high notes or low notes? Is it because musical notation has directions (up and down on the score)? Or do we we feel low and high frequencies differently? In this video we will discuss to what extent the fact that our body has directions (up and down) serve as a metaphor that more or less directly forms our understanding of music.
Music and emotion:
In this video you’ll meet Hallgjerd Aksnes. She is professor in musicology at the University of Oslo. She has led the project “Music, Motion and Emotion: Theoretical and Psychological Implications of Musical Embodiment” where the link between emotion in music and bodily metaphors is investigated.
Historic overview:
Within various music cultures there are different conventions of how to behave when we experience music. However, the dominant view in at least western music cultures is that the most serious and prestigious way is sedentary (being seated) and silent (not moving). This view influences even rock- and dance-acts with concerts in traditional music halls or opera houses often considered as a prestigious opportunity for the performers. A short historic backdrop may illuminate certain reasons for why this is so.
Pulse and entrainment:
Do you ever nod your head or tap your feet when you hear music? This activity usually follows a certain pulse in the music. But how do we find this pulse within a complex musical landscape of sounds? So, what sounds in the music are most vital? And how de we transfer this (mostly unconscious) understanding of pulse into a muscular activity that causes us to nod our head or tap our feet?
Groove:
What music makes you want to dance? Have you ever tried to investigate if there are certain elements that appear in this music more often than others? In this video the qualities of groove in music will be discussed, and you will meet professor Anne Danielsen who has, amongst other things, studied the funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament. She is a professor at the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo and has done much academic work on rhythm and groove in music.