By Ella Angell
Music has the power to influence emotions and make a person feel sad, happy or excited. These feelings can create the meaning that only music has the power to create. Music bypasses the standard language barriers. Any person who is not native to the song’s language can listen. Without understanding the words, they can feel the emotion and meaning of the song. Music breaks down language barriers.
Tempo is the speed of the piece. It is measured in beats per minutes. If the tempo is slow it is able to sway our feelings and create a calm, soothing environment whereas if it is fast and upbeat it can create a happy and positive environment. Slower tempos can also correlate to sadness and fear and faster tempos can also relate to anger.
Instruments, depending on how they are played, can impact the listener. In years before film had sound, movies would usually have an accompanying instrument to provide additional meaning and make the vision less impersonal. One way instruments can provide meaning is with the use of speed, pitch and loudness.
Furthermore, the choice of instruments used in a piece can control the way the listener feels. Having different instruments together can create varying density and thus have many layers that create an atmosphere that has more than just one emotion. Displacement with musical textures can affect the sound. This can impact emotion by having too much of a negative effect. However, if there is displacement between two parts sometimes it can have no effect. No matter what language a song is in, the listener is able to feel the same emotion because of the variety of techniques the instruments use.
Music can all play with our emotions depending on the dynamics, tempo, density and rhythm. It was used in the olden days to make film less impersonal and is so powerful because it bypasses languages.
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