Why does music evoke emotion, and do people from other cultures feel the same way?

This question was posed as part of New Scientist’s Last Word series, in which readers give scientific answers to each other’s questions. Here’s what our readers had to say

11 November 2026

Why do certain pieces of music evoke emotions such as joy or sadness, and do people from different cultures react in the same way?

Michael Ellison
University of Bristol, UK

Happiness and sadness depend largely on whether the harmony and modes involved use natural overtonal intervals or their inversions (with the inversions typically sounding less happy). Of course, nuances and gestures (how one plays) and specific instrument sounds can influence this, but the psychology of music lies in its tuning and harmony.

There is, of course, a lot of difference between musical cultures as to what, by convention, connotes happy and sad. Indeed, those categories themselves seem to derive from a Western common-practice era reduction into two main modes, major and minor, when other cultures may have a lot more modes to choose from.

Even within Western music, major is not always happy (try Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 59 No. 3), nor minor sad (listen to the song Happy by Pharell Williams, which is in minor!).

There is, of course, a lot of difference between musical cultures as to what, by convention, connotes happy and sad

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Topics: Last Word