A Little Mood Music

On the Relationship between Musical and Psychological Moods

Bibliographic Data

ID9466982
AuthorsTatyana A Kostochka (0000-0002-2385-2906, Ashoka University, corresponding author), Tatyana Kostochka (Ashoka University)
Year2024
Volume65
Issue4
Pages553-570
Publication date2024-11-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal of Aesthetics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0904 • E-ISSN: 1468-2842
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/aesthj/ayae056
OpenAlexW4406137350
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited41

We regularly talk about music as if it has moods or, at least, expresses moods. However, the relationship between psychological and musical moods remains mysterious. Music doesn’t have feelings, so how could it have moods? To make up for that, many philosophers have provided theories of expression that don’t rely on music actually possessing anything mood-like. In this paper, I argue that if we take seriously an account of psychological moods that includes patterns of attention as part of the mood itself, we can explain how music can, in fact, have moods; namely, by having a structure that resembles the structure of a mood. I then explain how this not only solves the puzzle of how music expresses moods but also helps us explain how we interact with musical moods

Art · Cognitive psychology · Feeling · Literature · Mood · Music and emotion · Music history · Musical · Mind wandering and attention · Neural dynamics and brain function · Neuroscience and Music Perception · Psychology · Social Psychology

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