Music and Emotions

When one hears music, one feels emotion. Emotion influences the way
a person acts. It could also nurture virtue in him or set a path towards vices.
As Aristotle explained in his book, “Problemata,” music and emotions are alike
as they’re both movements that move us. Music, just like emotion, is a principle
of action on a practical level. Music imitates emotion in a way that a person
would listen to a kind of music according to his feelings so that the music will
move him. Aristotle describes this as how different musical modes and different
rhythms induce different types of emotions.

I can attest to those philosophies as I am a musician myself. Whenever

I play my bass guitar, those low notes make me want to move my body, and
often I do. The rhythm and note placement sets a groove that anyone can
dance to. When I create a song, I first think of a particular mode (e.g.,
Mixolydian) to set the song's mood, just as Aristotle described how different
modes could produce other emotions. Another example related to the same
philosophy is the song Fade to Black by Metallica. It’s in the key of B minor
(with Aeolian as the mode). The theme of its lyrics is about hitting a shallow
point in life and feeling despair. From the lyrics alone, one can tell that it’s a
sad song but it wouldn’t be obvious if the key is in C major (it would sound
happy).