Ever wondered why live music gives you goosebumps? Well, researchers think they may have cracked the science behind it.
Volume, crowd participation and the meaning behind a song have all been listed as causes of the ‘live music goosebumps’ sensation in a new study released by Harvard University researcher Matthew Sachs.
Sachs came to his conclusion after undertaking a controlled experiment in which he monitored the heart rates and skin conductance of test subjects who were asked to listen to three of their favourite pieces of music.
Intensity of lyrics, rising pitch and harmonic intervals were also revealed to be major factors in inducing goosebumps among music listeners.
On the study, Sachs said: ‘’Many studies have attempted to investigate what causes the emotion we feel while listening to music, but these have typically taken place in a lab setting.
‘’We’ve never before been able to explore how multiple factors influence the likelihood of experiencing goosebumps in a real-world context.
‘It’s hugely exciting to be able to explore the physiological correlates of aesthetic emotions for the first time during live performances this summer.’
Barclaycard also carried out a similar study in which results showed that seven in 10 Brits believe that goosebumps are indicator of outstanding live music, however, only 16 percent of us claimed to understand why the phenomenon occurred.
It was also revealed in this study that rock music is expected to induce goosebumps over any other genre of music, with 31 percent of people interviewed saying they thought the genre would bring about the sensation.
This summer, Sachs will carry out a further experiment on the psychological effects of music on-site at two UK music festivals.
The experiment is set to study and evaluate fan’s psychological responses to music in a similar way to his previous study, but in a music festival setting.
Volume, crowd participation and the meaning behind a song have all been listed as causes of the ‘live music goosebumps’ sensation in a new study released by Harvard University researcher Matthew Sachs.
Sachs came to his conclusion after undertaking a controlled experiment in which he monitored the heart rates and skin conductance of test subjects who were asked to listen to three of their favourite pieces of music.
Intensity of lyrics, rising pitch and harmonic intervals were also revealed to be major factors in inducing goosebumps among music listeners.
On the study, Sachs said: ‘’Many studies have attempted to investigate what causes the emotion we feel while listening to music, but these have typically taken place in a lab setting.
‘’We’ve never before been able to explore how multiple factors influence the likelihood of experiencing goosebumps in a real-world context.
‘It’s hugely exciting to be able to explore the physiological correlates of aesthetic emotions for the first time during live performances this summer.’
Barclaycard also carried out a similar study in which results showed that seven in 10 Brits believe that goosebumps are indicator of outstanding live music, however, only 16 percent of us claimed to understand why the phenomenon occurred.
It was also revealed in this study that rock music is expected to induce goosebumps over any other genre of music, with 31 percent of people interviewed saying they thought the genre would bring about the sensation.
This summer, Sachs will carry out a further experiment on the psychological effects of music on-site at two UK music festivals.
The experiment is set to study and evaluate fan’s psychological responses to music in a similar way to his previous study, but in a music festival setting.
