Science behind music hits

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Brisbane Times

Queensland

Date

September 22, 2013 - 12:01AM

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Griffith University researcher Dr Tim Byron.

Griffith University researcher Dr Tim Byron. Photo: Amanda Harris/Bruce Loves Susie photography

Believe it or not, there is a science behind those top 20 hits you can't get out of your head.

The cognitive psychology behind “earworms” has been a relatively unexplored area of scientific endeavour, until recently.

According to one of Australia's leading experts on music psychology, Griffith University's Dr Tim Byron, there are a few reasons why certain songs can occupy our minds for hours, or even days on end.

Hooks - short riffs or passages that make a song appealing – are at the heart of this.

“It has to do with repetition and variation,” Dr Byron says.

“A catchy song out there is Get Lucky by Daft Punk. There's a hook every 3.75 seconds so that has to do with some of the song getting stuck in your head.”

Dr Byron, who heads up Griffith University's Music, Mind and Brain online psychology course, says our minds subconsciously analyse beat and chord patterns.

Through years of listening, people develop musical expectations. It means that when the chorus hits after a lengthy build-up, it provides “a sense of relief”.

“If an artist is trying to play with your expectations, they'll play with those patterns.”

Dr Byron doesn't think record producers and artists think about the science when they make music, but it is something they are becoming increasingly aware of.

Earlier this year, the president of American record label Roc Nation Jay Brown said listeners gave a song seven seconds of radio play before deciding whether to change the station.

“It's not enough to have one hook any more," Brown told the Huffington Post.

“You've got to have a hook in the intro, a hook in the pre-chorus, a hook in the chorus, and a hook in the bridge.”

A common debate around the water cooler, dinner table and backyard barbecue is whether some chart-topping songs are actually any good.

But Dr Byron cautions against such debates, or labelling mainstream hit singles as mindless.

“In terms of what is good in music, I don't think there is such a thing. There is music that is useful and music people can use. Most of the time people want to feel an emotion.”

Dr Byron's top five earworms from 2010 to now, in no particular order:

Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World)

LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

Daft Punk - Get Lucky feat. Pharrell Williams Nile Rodgers

Guy Sebastian - Battle Scars feat. Lupe Fiasco

As part of Dr Byron's Music, Mind and Brain university course, he is surveying the public to compare their earworms with those of his students. Visit www.is.gd/earworms to take the quiz.