• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Experiencing Euphoria from Music

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
I'm almost positive that this happens to everyone, even if they don't tell you so. How could it not?

Maybe an exception of tone-deaf people - I have no idea.

You mean general euphoria or synesthesia (in resp. to my post)?

(EDIT: nevermind.. ^)

I don't know, I've seen that very emotionally 'regular' people (not Thinkers necessarily, but people who're always socially cheerful or always at the same level of positive mood) tend not to have as much visceral response to music as more anxious, unsettled, passionate, etc. people. They aren't hit so much by it.

I'm going particularly by experience with my mom. I'll play her some piece of music that blew me away, & she'll be sitting there calmly the whole time & when it's over she might say, "that was a nice song" (or "that was weird"-- but totally unmoved / unimpressed).
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
how do you quantify euphoria such that you can compare it between people?

I suppose you mean subjective assessment of euphoria, where the obvious problem is interpretation. Maybe some people tend to be less dramatic in their descriptions of a similar feeling than others do.
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
how do you quantify euphoria such that you can compare it between people?

I suppose you mean subjective assessment of euphoria, where the obvious problem is interpretation. Maybe some people tend to be less dramatic in their descriptions of a similar feeling than others do.

If you had some brain-measuring devices you could quantify it... but subjective self-report is good enough I think...

I think it's a scientific fallacy to suppose that everyone hears the same thing in the same way... to begin with, everyone's ears are physically different in some small way & therefore slightly slightly unique, therefore they literally hear different sound, & then the way their individual brains process the sound will be unique to an even greater degree... so even if the same sound signal reaches two people's brains, the way it impacts them could differ dramatically.
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
You mean general euphoria or synesthesia (in resp. to my post)?

(EDIT: nevermind.. ^)

I don't know, I've seen that very emotionally 'regular' people (not Thinkers necessarily, but people who're always socially cheerful or always at the same level of positive mood) tend not to have as much visceral response to music as more anxious, unsettled, passionate, etc. people. They aren't hit so much by it.

I'm going particularly by experience with my mom. I'll play her some piece of music that blew me away, & she'll be sitting there calmly the whole time & when it's over she might say, "that was a nice song" (or "that was weird"-- but totally unmoved / unimpressed).

No some people aren't as affected by music as others, it's true.

I've actually had people tell me that they don't care about music. I'm just like ...really? HOW?

It's what separates someone with what used to be called "an artistic temperament" from most people.
 

Stigmata

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
8,779
Personally, this happens to me a lot, yet I'm pretty sure it happens to everyone at one point or another, with the only difference between the frequency and intensity. While in the midst of it some my view it as some sort of cathartic experience, while for others it may be nothing more than a fuzzy afterthought.
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
No some people aren't as affected by music as others, it's true.

I've actually had people tell me that they don't care about music. I'm just like ...really? HOW?

It's what separates someone with what used to be called "an artistic temperament" from most people.

Yeah!

What's your reaction to this song:

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq09UkPRdFY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq09UkPRdFY[/YOUTUBE]

I used to get crazy euphoria from that tune. CRAZY!
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Personally, this happens to me a lot, yet I'm pretty sure it happens to everyone at one point or another, with the only difference between the frequency and intensity. While in the midst of it some my view it as some sort of cathartic experience, while for others it may be nothing more than a fuzzy afterthought.

Yeah, I find it particularly interesting when you're drunk-- everything's all loose & watery like you're swimming in it.
 

Stigmata

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
8,779
Yeah, I find it particularly interesting when you're drunk-- everything's all loose & watery like you're swimming in it.

Well, stimulants can produce the same sort of euphoric effect, but I think most of the time, at least personally, it's brought on by matching a particular mood with a song that compliments it. Sort of like solving some sort of artistic/cognitive rubic cube in which the perfect combination unlocks that sensation.
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
Yeah!

What's your reaction to this song:

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq09UkPRdFY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq09UkPRdFY[/YOUTUBE]

I used to get crazy euphoria from that tune. CRAZY!

Mariah Carey has a very uplifting voice, and I used to experience that listening to "Love Takes Time" which is one of her earliest songs. Like I said, a lot of my euphoria is connected to songs which were meaningful to me at certain points in my life, or that I grew up with. So I have this reaction a lot to many classic guitar rock songs from the 70's (I have no recollection of the 1970's of course but I listened to a lot of classic rock growing up, especially in high school) and early 80's synth-pop, and songs from the 90's which were meaningful to me in my teen years.

I base how much I like a song on how intensely it makes me feel, or what it conjures up for me.

But then there are songs like that Sigur Ros song which I immediately had a "euphoric" reaction to from a purely musical perspective.

I also get an intense feeling of well-being when I sing.

Have you heard the original song that was sampled for "Fantasy"?
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
For some reason I don't have any nostalgic feelings connected with classic rock even though I listened to it a lot in 7th-9th grade. I think because I always found it kinda cheesy, since I was also listening to Nirvana & modern alt-rock at the time which to me had more emotion in it. No music sounds more emotionally robotic to me than stuff like Genesis, Journey, Guns N Roses (actually they're just undyingly cheesy), Moody Blues, Eddie Money, Aerosmith (though they have some neat songs) etc.

However, John Cougar Mellancamp is the tits.
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
Kinda silly early 80's pop, I kind of put it in the same category of "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow or "I Know What Boys Like" by the Waitresses. I think of it as Valley Girl music.

 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
For some reason I don't have any nostalgic feelings connected with classic rock even though I listened to it a lot in 7th-9th grade. I think because I always found it kinda cheesy, since I was also listening to Nirvana & modern alt-rock at the time which to me had more emotion in it. No music sounds more emotionally robotic to me than stuff like Genesis, Journey, Guns N Roses (actually they're just undyingly cheesy), Moody Blues, Eddie Money, Aerosmith (though they have some neat songs) etc.

Classic rock is like Jackson Browne, Led Zepplin, The Who, Boston, Styx...I wasn't even thinking of Guns N Roses, which is Hair Metal, and Genesis is like 80's pop, I don't consider it "guitar rock" at all. Guitar rock generally refers to the late 60's and 70's.
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
Also, I listened to Nirvana in high school so I consider it the music of my generation, but I don't think any Nirvana song has "more" emotion than "Dream On" by Aerosmith, though we could argue equal emotion.

 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Classic rock is like Jackson Browne, Led Zepplin, The Who, Boston, Styx...I wasn't even thinking of Guns N Roses, which is Hair Metal, and Genesis is like 80's pop, I don't consider it "guitar rock" at all. Guitar rock generally refers to the late 60's and 70's.

I think of it all as one continuum, that was only disrupted once grunge came around & made the hair bands GTFO. Also the classic rock station here played GNR & Aerosmith & all that mixed in w/ Led Zep & so on.

By the way, what's the radio genre for the Beatles? I never hear them on classic rock or oldies stations.
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Also, I listened to Nirvana in high school so I consider it the music of my generation, but I don't think any Nirvana song has "more" emotion than "Dream On" by Aerosmith, though we could argue equal emotion.


I will argue far, far greater emotion!

Nah..

But Nirvana tend to draw hardcore emotionally-invested fans in a way I've never seen any other band do. Particularly among unhappy teenagers.
 

Stigmata

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
8,779
I will argue far, far greater emotion!

Nah..

But Nirvana tend to draw hardcore emotionally-invested fans in a way I've never seen any other band do. Particularly among unhappy teenagers.

I think the Nirvana emotional investments stems more from the events surrounding the music(Kurt Cobain's depression and aversion to commercial fame/success) than the actual content of the music itself, but that's not to say that they don't have emotionally charged songs.
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
They have a special effect on people because their songs combine anger with deeper emotions (more sensitive ones), while also using a melodic / harmonic language that's unlike any other band's (prob. half of their songs use notes outside the tonic key or else change keys, or resolve to unusual notes in the key... & a lot of their riffs are based on unusual chord progressions like Lithium for example which is E, G#, C#, A, C, D, B, D... etc.. I could talk all day)
 

FunnyDigestion

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
1,126
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Kinda silly early 80's pop, I kind of put it in the same category of "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow or "I Know What Boys Like" by the Waitresses. I think of it as Valley Girl music.


Wow, it actually had the bridge from Fantasy... yeah, totally total Valley Girl music for sure.
 
Top