Featuring insights from percussionist Jackie Bertone
Music is one of the most profound emotional languages in human history. It transcends culture, time, and even language. Whether it’s a melody that moves you to tears or a rhythm that lifts your spirits, music has the power to shape how we feel—sometimes instantly. It can pull us out of despair, ground us in peace, or amplify the joy already in our hearts. But how does this work? Why does music impact us so deeply? And what does it say about the connection between sound, emotion, and the human experience?
The Emotional Spectrum of Music
Music touches almost every corner of the emotional spectrum. Joy, sadness, longing, hope, peace, excitement, fear—each emotion can be awakened by sound. The reason lies in how the brain processes music. When we hear music, multiple regions of the brain become active, especially the limbic system, which governs emotion, memory, and motivation. The brain also releases dopamine—the pleasure chemical—in response to musical patterns we enjoy. This explains why a musical climax can feel euphoric or why a familiar song can bring a smile without warning.
But music doesn’t just trigger emotion—it helps us navigate it. Many of us instinctively choose music based on how we feel or how we want to feel. We listen to something upbeat when we need energy, or to something soft and reflective when we’re trying to calm down. Sometimes, we listen to sad music not to sink deeper into sadness, but to feel understood and comforted.
Memory, Emotion, and the Music We Carry
Music is also a powerful trigger for memory, especially emotional memory. Songs become attached to specific moments in our lives—first loves, heartbreaks, childhood car rides, personal losses. Decades later, just hearing the opening chords of a song can bring those moments flooding back.
This emotional recall is part of why music is so personal and why people form such strong connections to certain genres or artists. It isn’t just about preference—it’s about emotional association. In this way, music becomes more than sound; it becomes an emotional marker for our lived experience.
Jackie Bertone, a renowned percussionist who has spent decades working with major artists and producing music across genres, has seen this firsthand.
“I’ve seen music bring people to tears—not because of what I was playing technically, but because it reached them emotionally,” Jackie says. “It reminded them of something they didn’t even realize they were holding onto. That’s the power of rhythm and melody. It doesn’t ask permission—it just enters.”
Music and Specific Emotions: How Sound Shapes Feeling
Let’s take a closer look at how music evokes certain emotions and why it does so:
- Joy and Excitement: Fast tempos, major keys, and rhythmic intensity often evoke happiness or energy. Think of pop songs, dance beats, or high-tempo jazz. These sounds stimulate movement and increase dopamine, which is associated with pleasure and reward.
- Sadness and Longing: Slower tempos, minor chords, and soft dynamics are common in songs that make us feel reflective or even tearful. These elements mimic the tone of human speech when we’re sad—slower, quieter, and more drawn out.
- Peace and Calm: Ambient music, acoustic guitar, classical strings, or nature-inspired compositions tend to reduce anxiety. They can slow heart rate and breathing, supporting emotional regulation and mindfulness.
- Tension or Fear: Dissonance, abrupt changes in rhythm or dynamics, and unpredictable structures can create unease. This is often used in suspenseful film scores to tap into primal fears and emotional tension.
- Inspiration and Hope: Rising melodies, uplifting harmonies, and motivational lyrics can lead to feelings of resilience and inner strength. These songs often build gradually, mimicking the emotional process of rising above adversity.
What’s remarkable is that these responses are often universal. Across cultures, people interpret music in similar ways. Even without knowing the words or context, a song can still communicate its emotional core.
The Physical Side of Feeling Music
Emotion isn’t just mental—it’s physical. Our bodies respond to music in ways we might not even notice. Heart rate, breathing, posture, even hormone levels can shift depending on what we’re listening to. Music therapy is widely used to help patients manage pain, depression, and anxiety. Stroke victims sometimes regain language skills through rhythmic speech and song. Alzheimer’s patients, even in later stages, often respond to music from their youth when other memories have faded.
This is where music becomes more than entertainment—it becomes medicine.
Jackie puts it simply: “Music can heal without words. I’ve played for people who couldn’t speak or move much, and yet, the beat got through. A finger tapped. A tear rolled down. That’s real. That’s not showbiz—that’s connection.”
Music as a Mirror and a Tool
Music not only helps us feel but also helps us understand what we’re feeling. At times, our emotions can be tangled or unspoken. A piece of music can untangle those threads, giving voice to what we couldn’t articulate. It becomes a mirror—reflecting our inner world back to us in a form we can grasp.
It also becomes a tool for changing how we feel. Athletes use music to psych themselves up before a game. Artists use it to enter creative flow. People battling anxiety or depression often find relief through playlists that match their emotional needs—sometimes comforting, sometimes energizing, sometimes cathartic.
Why Music Still Matters
In a world full of distraction, division, and noise, music remains one of the most unifying and clarifying forces. It asks nothing of us except to feel. And in return, it gives us something few things can: presence, connection, expression, and sometimes, even peace.
We might not always know why a particular song hits us so hard, but we recognize the truth of it. We feel the knot in the throat, the flutter in the chest, the urge to dance or to sit quietly and reflect. That’s the body recognizing something deeper than sound. That’s emotion, awakened.
“Every note I play, I’m offering part of myself,” Jackie says. “I don’t just play to fill space. I play to stir something in people. And when it happens—when I see that look in someone’s eyes—I know music did what it was meant to do.”
Conclusion: The Sound of Feeling
Music changes the way we feel and think not by accident, but by design. It speaks the language of emotion, using tone, rhythm, and memory to reach us in ways nothing else can. It helps us express, explore, and evolve—emotionally, mentally, even spiritually.
We may forget words. We may forget names. But we never forget how a song made us feel.
