Why Do We Love Music?

I love music. I have over 500 CDs of Dave Matthews Band concerts, and I have vivid memories of specific moments in my life listening to them. For example, I remember listening to the long build up of “Seek Up” in June 2004, while driving to a dinner event at the church I was working at in Chattanooga. It is burned into my memory as if it were yesterday.

Most of us have similar memories. When we think about favorite music, whether it be classical or country, Beethoven or Bono, most of have memories and associations that touch upon the deepest emotions and experiences of of life.

Recently I wondered: why is this? As someone who studies theology, I’m interested in the philosophy of music. What does music mean? Is it merely pleasant—in the words of Steven Pinker, “auditory cheesecake”—or does it actually have a significance that corresponds to its effect upon us?

As a thought experiment, I’m thinking today about two different ways to answer this question. (Of course, there many be other answers beyond these two.) Read More

I found this article by Gavin Ortland interesting and I thought that it might interest Anglicans Ablaze readers too. However, I do think that Gavin overlooks the communal aspects of music making. When an extended family group, a clan, or tribe make music together, it reinforces and strengthens the ties that bind the group together. It also helps the group to meet needs on the emotional-psychological level of Maslow's pyramid of needs and in both these ways helps the group to survive. Folk cultures use music to celebrate success in the hunt, victory in warfare with a rival group, a bountiful harvest, and so on. They use music to appease the gods, spirits, or ancestors, and to win their favor. They use music to grieve a tragic loss and to console the survivors. Here in the West we live in a culture that has largely abandoned the making of music to "specialists" and relegated most of the community to the role of listeners. We no longer appreciate the value of making music together as a community.