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					   Vibrating Molecules and the Secret of their Feelings

Why music acts emotionally. The Striving Tendency Theory






Music acts emotionally - who wanted to deny. But concrete statements
about the emotional effect of music to win have always been a
difficult exercise. And even the specialized dictionaries of our days
leave us cold in the lurch when we talk about this issue want to find.
So it must always remain insoluble mystery, the question of the cause
of the emotional effect of music?

Already for some time makes a new theory to be aware that finally
light into the darkness of the previous music brings psychological
research. The "Striving Tendency Theory" of the music theorist Bernd
Willimek describes fairly accurately and reliably, which in the human
psyche is going through when they oscillating air molecules is
emotionally aroused. Similarly, she describes why the harmony, for
example, sad, the other harmony, however joyous or other emotions in
it. Numerous tests conducted at high schools in Baden-Wuerttemberg
and Bavaria with over 1,000 volunteers so far have been carried out,
confirmed the general validity of this theory.

           The central message of the Tendency Theory

In its basic the Striving Tendency Theory says that listeners in the
musical harmonies create an effect, as if they could perceive certain
transactions of volition by identifying with them. These transactions
of volition will be the musical opposite tonal tendencies. Whilst
tendency tonal effects of music by various earlier theorists described,
but did so in a way that they like to explain the emotional effect of
music and also unusable by today's intelligence is wrong. Nor Ernst
Kurth, the founder of music psychology, described the experience of a
musical suspension as perception of a certain "tractive force", which
set a tone for the resolution in a different tone drift.

Bernd Willimek shows, however, that this old view, a wrong physical
reasoning underlies: Not the experienced clay undergoes a change, if
it a musical tension within the meaning Ernst Kurths surrounds. The
musical tension causes much more that the music listener perceives
itself changed. Namely, in a way, as though he identifying with a
desire not to change the sounding tone.

This principle can be an everyday example to illustrate. Let us just
imagine first an empty suitcase and then a heavy suitcase. In the first
imagination shows us a suitcase, we are from a neutral perspective
view. If the suitcase in our idea becomes heavy, strange
transformation places in us: We take the suitcases in hand to carry it.
But not only that. We feel at once a will in us. Because we hold the
suitcase in the idea with our effort will determine. So we originally
wanted the weight of the suitcase imagine experience but ultimately a
will with which we identify.

Exactly what is happening now, if we are a "heavy" tone want to
imagine. The sound that we imagine we will not really become heavy,
such as Ernst Kurth said, but we let into our imagination with a will
influence without us to make them aware. Nevertheless, we identify
ourselves with this and will see him the emotional character of the
sound. In this simple model is the content of this desire not to change
the status of an actual situation (the tone – whatever it is in our
imagination – should keep on).

In this way we can describe the effect of all musical elements such as
suspension or leading tone and the emotional character of musical
harmonies. In short order would be the basic principle of the Striving
Tendency Theory described.

    The practical application of the Strive Tendency Theory to
                        musical Harmonies

             The cheerful Major - where there is only?

The different emotional content of Major and Minor Moser’s music
lexicon describes: "The distinction, Major sounds happy, sad minor,
despite their earthiness much for himself" (Moser-music lexicon,
1955, page 794). We call it now no longer driving third, but we speak
of the” identification with a will against the change in the third”, we
get the following result:
In a Major-tonic we identify ourselves with a willingness to deal with
low-intensity directed against a change. Emotionally, we can this
content will describe as "identification with a feeling of a sober
agreed-being with the present." If we compare this statement now with
the description of the major-tonic of the music theorist Gustav

"It could be a symbol for the major-tonic choose the upright man. He
is resting in itself, inasmuch as he does not outwards. He is in tension
but, inasmuch as he constantly gravity has to overcome." (Theory of
tonality," Schwabe & Co., page 39)

Gueldenstein also describes desire content; emotionally seen a feeling
of a sober-agreement corresponds with the present. The Ullstein music
lexicon confirms this character of major-tonic also by them as
"positive" means (Ullstein music lexicon, page 351).

 The major-tonic brings the feel of a sober "Agreed-being" expressed

  ... And sad sounds the final chord in minor - why does actually
                            minor sad?

But whence comes the mourning of the minor? In Moser’s music
lexicon is the essence of parallel minor chord as a "minor turbidity of
major described (page 793). For the purposes of this monistic view of
the minor third is not as a separate interval, but a troubled leading-
tone. The Ullstein music lexicon means the minor sound in this
context as a "major down" (page 351).
Even when we replace parallel minor of the idea of "driving effects"
by the idea of "identification with a desire against a change," we get
there is a clear result: The desire for a change, which we identified in
the major-tonic, appears now "tarnished", "down". The feeling of
agreed-being is tarnished to a feeling of non-agree-being.

The effect of parallel corresponds to the statement "I do not want
more." Would you say these words quietly, it sounds sad; you would
say it loud, she sounds angry. This distinction is reflected in now resist
the emotional impact of Who namely a first minor chord, and then
quietly repeats slowly getting louder, it is possible in an impressive
manner, a transformation of the expression of grief into anger
experience. As we shall see, are for the other minor possibilities of

The sad effect of the minor variant is at this point in the Schubert song
"The love color" clearly noticeable and lets the listener the sad end of
the cycle "The Beautiful Mill-Girl" put history guess.

    If the Major Harmony meats us with deep Perplexity - the
                  Secondary Dominant Chord

Allows you to a kind of minor emotional negation of the major, then
the language of music by the dominant connections of harmonies of
further enriched. The special effect of a dominant harmony is that it
not only affects themselves, but also the listener in anticipation of a
resolution chord. These are the music theorists agree. In a dominant
harmony we are witnessing is not just one harmony, but a second or
more well in advance.

We change the present descriptions of the dominant driving effects
here too - as above derived - then are as follows: In the dominant
function we identify ourselves with a desire against a change, whereby
this change is characterized by the anticipated sound resolution.

Even not musically trained listeners evaluate one and the same
secondary dominant chord depending on the expected dissolution
sound in a span of extreme "happy" to "painful" - even if they are not
able to describe the resolution. Secondary dominant chords of minor
tonics bring emotional distress expressed. From the Baroque era to the
present era of pop music, they were - and still are - acting as an
intensely irritable harmonies used.

In the songs "The lotus flower" (with the words "her face pious
flowers") and "Your Face" (with the words "from the pious eyes
breaks") shows how expressing content Schumann ascribes this sound,
but he uses it in exactly in those parts in songs, in which the visually
witness listeners in the idea of a suffering at the moment being the
highest perplexity in the eye looks.

 In the song "The lotus flower" (op. 25 / 7) Robert Schumann used the
   secondary dominant of the submediant minor as an expression of
strong painful embarrassment - precisely those text location where the
  listener visually witnessed the suffering in the idea of looking into
                               their eyes.

  Also in the song "Your Face" (op.127 / 2) by Schumann sounds the
  secondary dominant of the submediant in minor in one moment in
  which the listener visually witnessed a person suffering in the eye

    When the Major Chords wear mourning - as the Dominant
     Harmony of a Minor Chord Major works such as Minor

Volunteers in accordance confirmed, that the character of a perceived
as a sad minor tonic chord also be maintained if the sound changes to
its dominant major chord. This may initially sound strange, because
one major harmonies otherwise not with "sadness" connects. But with
our method can easily explain this result:

We identify ourselves with a minor tonic chord with a feeling of non-
agree-being and their major dominant chord - as explained above -
with a will against the re-entry of the minor tonic, then emerges for
the dominant chord a situation that - consistently - to follow can be

When a dominant major of a tonic minor sounds, we identify
ourselves with a feeling of "not being agreed with regard to a feeling
of non-agree-being." The application of our theory of harmony on the
follow dominant-tonic leads to a kind pleonasm (two statements, a
content). So explained that the change of harmony dominant-minor
tonic can convey only one emotional content, namely that of the minor

   Dominant major chords in the second bar of the prelude of "The
 Color love" from the cycle "The beautiful Mill-girl" sound as sad as
 the minor harmonies of the first bar, because their emotional effect
                              take over.

As the Sounds learned walking - the Dominant of the Major Tonic
                brings Movement into the Music

An entirely different situation arises when repeated exchange tonic-
dominant, if the tonic is a major tonic. We have it with a sequence of
major chords to do. We also replace the traditional descriptions of
drive effects from the description of volition content, we have
emotional content, which is contradictory.

Because the phase of tonic chord appears - as long as he sounds - as
"wanted" from the perspective of the period in which the dominant
sounds, but as "not wanted. Such a contradiction seems pointless
initially, but it corresponds with the statement "I want, I do not want, I
want, I do not want..."
This inconsistency, however, the listener can remove by the idea of
movement. For whoever wanders, for example, encounters at every
step with the foot of a particular point of his journey from the moment
he previously had sought.

Arnold Feil says to Schubert's song "Walking" from the "Beautiful
Mill-Girl” which, like countless other wandering songs by the
harmony connection tonic-dominant idea of the movement created:

"You can see the movement of such music is not implement lives in
bodily movement, but they can somehow translate, they can be
musically imagine, and therefore musically realize." (Arnold Feil:
"Franz Schubert", 1975, Seite 58) (Arnold Feil: "Franz Schubert",
1975, page 58)

The change of harmony tonic - dominant in the major is ideally suited
      to the idea of motion to create folk-song as in text above.

Such one Day, so beautiful as it is today - the Major Subdominant
                       as a Sound of Joy

The consonant major subdominant chord takes place in the serious and
light music as an expression of increased, unburdened mood use. The
"Great Dictionary of Music" writes that the subdominant in major
“readily to melodic high points is used." (The Great Dictionary of
Music, Herder, Honegger and Massenkeil, 1982, 8 band, page 39)
In Schubert's song cycle "The beautiful Mill-Girl" we find the
consonant subdominant chord only to the few points of the 20 songs
of the cycle ', the text describes the moment as the miller believes
mistakenly, the heart of the mill-girl to have conquered. These are the
two songs "Mine" and "Pause". Here, you can describe the emotional
constitution of the miller as a "carefree".

Even with subdominant sounds in songs in interviews test persons
described passages, where the mood at the "warmest" and the "joyous"

Since it is extremely difficult, to hear subdominant chords as
dominant chords, because their resolution sound (the double
subdominant) would be out of scale, it is in relation to the tonic with a
very weak "striving” described. Arnold Feil describes the change as a
tonic-subdominant "tension reduction from a normal voltage to a
lower voltage" (“theory of tonality", page 40), Diether de la Motte
called the subdominant as the "low-voltage distance to the center" (
"harmony", page 35) .

We also replace the description "striving" by the idea of
"identification with a desire against a change”, it results in the
following situation: We identify ourselves at the subdominant chord
with a desire against a change, but the intensity is vanishingly small.

Such a feeling fit to moments of lightheartedness, which is about the
intoxication or after a victory could set. The subdominant fits so
perfectly to songs in merry round and will take place in the relevant
literature also richest use (for example, the song "Such one day, so
beautiful as it is today"). The subdominant is also very good for
describing a carefree mood in children's songs (like "All my
duckling"). In Hymns the subdominant can underline the emotional
climax, including in Germany song when the melody of the upper
octave goes down again, or in the following example, the old student
song "Gaudeamus igitur":
The major subdominant is often used at melodic high points, because
            it can express an increased, carefree mood.

 If it crackles with Tension - to Situations that require Courage,
                        Aeolian Minor fits

Appears minor tonic not alternating with the major dominant, but with
the minor dominant, as in Aeolian minor is the case, the application of
our method of emotional content, which at first glance seem
contradictory. Because when the dominant of minor sounds, the
listener identified with a "low-spirited" will (minor dominant chord)
against a phase of the non-agreed-being (minor tonic). The expected
non wanted state is therefore no resistance opposite.

Such a content of volition would be only conceivable in a situation, in
which a man did not continue any effort against a change, which he
did not want. Such a man would probably be courageous, because it is
an unintended change, which in any case requires overcoming.

The theoretical derivation of the sonic character of this true harmony
accurately connects with their emotional effect match. Because the
connection minor tonic minor dominant is ideally suited to work with
courage to express musical resources. It takes place in the movie
music a thousand times use to exciting scenes to characterize. Just
think of the preamble of the famous German television series "crime

Harmony also designed this connection the character of rock and pop
music at Aeolian minor, which sounds very brave (Deep Purple,
Santana). In the commercial esoteric meditation music harmony finds
the same connection - in the piano field - use as an expression of
oneself leaving traps in a meditative adventure. The courageous action
of sounds to be here on a allowing new emotions and spiritual
experiences relate.

Aeolian minor does not sound sad, but more adventurous or brave. In
"The Groove" (from "Rock Piano II", Juergen Moser) you can feel it.

The Farewell doing so Hurt - the Major Subdominant with Major
               Seventh is a Sound of Wistfulness

The major subdominant with great seventh is particularly suited to the
melancholic mood of a farewell scene musically represent. How can I
explain? With the major subdominant you can - as above derived -
express a feeling of light heartedness. If also the major seventh
sounds, then mingles in the consonants major sound a dissonance that
you have strive character attributes. We now also exchange the notion
of "striving" for the idea of identifying with a desire against a change.
Then we can describe the effect of the whole sound as intertwining of
two separate impressions describe.

That would be one of the carefree mood of the subdominant other the
identification with a desire against a change due to the impact of the
big seventh. So an impression as if we sympathize with a soul could
be in the moment of leave at once tried, to hold tight the moment. The
character of the impermanence meddles in the mood to leave them for
the listener in a wistful character appear

The subdominant with great seventh finds harmony as a stimulus
already in Johann Sebastian Bach plenty of use (in "Air", last harmony
on the long first tone of melody) and stayed through all the eras to
today's pop music (such as Elton John "Your Song", second vocal
chord after the operation).

 In its typically melancholic effect, the major subdominant with great
       seventh appears in the song "Farewell the Forest" by Felix

  When the Youth rebelled, the Minor Seventh was the great Hit
The dominant seventh chord includes, according to the music theorist,
two strongly striving tones, namely the third and the minor seventh.
We also replace the description "striving” for the idea "identification
with a will against a change“, so we find the act of identification with
a desire against a change equal to one of two ways. This dual
willingness “emotion-against-something” makes the character of the
sound from dominant seventh chord.

This takes place as an expression of resistance, braking, use. This
braking effect is of listeners then adopted as a useful, if the previously
dominant seventh without the idea of movement had generated. Which
is why some rules of harmony, only the seventh of the already
dominant sounding add. By adding the seventh, with its small braking
effect, the character of a flowing movement of the dominant character
in a step movement will be. (Hiking songs!).

If the dominant seventh chord is introduced without preparation,
appears the impression of a resistance braking effect on the listener
sometimes incomprehensible why he considers the character of this
sound as softness or tearful. Then one has the impression that
someone has already slowed before the departure.

Was quite different use the small seventh in the light music. Their
emancipation to all three main functions created a new expression of
resistance against the establishment. The Blues scheme sounds alone
because of its harmonies cheeky and unruly.

The impact effect of the former citizens startle anthem "Satisfaction"
by the Rolling Stones results from the minor sevenths of tonic and
subdominant. Would be here this seventh namely from the melody
and remove them, for example, by a whole tone higher replace it or he
would be the song at once deprived of his character revolt.
     The former citizens startle effect of the Rolling Stones song
  "Satisfaction" results musically from both the sevenths d flat and g

If the Loyalty keeps forever - the Sixte Ajoutee in Major expresses
                  a Sense of warm Comfort from

Strive characteristics of this sound by Diether de la Motte described as
follows: "fifth and sixth as dissonance are pushing apart." (Diether de
la Motte: "harmony", page 54)

We go to the identification of the emotional nature of this sounds
exactly the same way as in the other sounds and exchange this
description of his "strive properties" from the description by one of
these "striving" opposed willingness content. Then we have instead of
a "divergence aspirations" on "stay together-do ". Through this
reformulation, we have the character of this sound already found: It is
an expression of witted togetherness, a sense of warm security.

At the beginning of the Sonata op.31 No. 3 Ludwig van Beethoven
expands the sound of the subdominant with Sixte Ajoutee in a single
way over a length of three bars, and thereby gives him one for the
whole plant characterizing role. We read the analysis of the music
researcher Juergen Uhde, so we come to a striking consistency with
our derivation. Because states that: "For a long time seemed to me in
this 3.Sonate (compared to the 1st and burst in all areas of the
imagination debauchery 2. Sonata) something like feeling in security
being articulated to be..."

Few lines previously investigated by Uhde the Sixte Aoutee leading
back to the tonic cadence and presents the question: "Is such a return
already journeying into the security?" (Juergen Uhde, "Beethoven's
piano music", page 79, Publisher Philip Reclam Jun. Stuttgart).

   The subdominant with Sixte Ajoutee can express be a feeling of
 security, what at the beginning of the Sonata op 31 No 3 by Ludwig
                van Beethoven may be good lookalike.

 So lonely as never before - the Sixte Ajoutee in Minor stands for

The Sixte Ajoutee Minor is in its emotional impact of her exactly the
opposite of Sixte Ajoutee major. It takes place as an expression of
painful loneliness, of lovesickness, use. An effective example is found
in Schubert's cycle lovesickness "The Winter Journey", with the sound
of this connection is opened ("Stranger, I am fed...").

How can we explain such an effect? We apply our method to this
sound; the result is - as with the Sixte Ajoutee Major - even here the
expression of stay together wool. Since the basic harmony now but a
minor chord is, this expression appears before the emotional context
of a non-agree-being. From the "do-stay together" is a bad
combination “do-stay-together". This mood but fits to a broken
friendship, to lovesickness.

  The Sixte Ajoutee Minor can express a feel of lovesickness. Franz
 Schubert opened with the sound his cycle "The Winter Journey", by
               nothing other than acts of lovesickness.

            The Neapolitan Sixth as a Symbol of Death

A special feature of the painful Neapolitan Sixth lies in its strong
contradictoriness. One is here the major chord, the other an aspiring
described as a strong sound. Arnold Feil confirmed that the sound "cut
dissonant sounds," although it is not in itself. ("Franz Schubert", page

That this double effect is actually corresponds to the general listening,
it seems to show that the Neapolitan effect retroactively can easily rise
from a sound, in the whole of his time as a normal major chord was
heard. In this way, the music lexicon Moser noted (Volume II, page

We apply our method to this sound, the result is the contradictoriness
from a feeling of Fine-being (major chord) and the identification with
a desire to deal with extreme intensity against a change directed
("Striving”). Emotionally, this could sound as a mixture of feelings of
"human-being-wool" and the painful experience of suffering
designate.. Schubert uses this sound in the cycle "The beautiful Mill-
Girl" and also very clearly if the text of the death or disappearance of
one act.

Diether de la Motte says about this sound: "It is important to
remember that this chord yet to Bach time of intense action and
expression of pain was reserved and not as pure chord misunderstood
material may be" ( "harmony", page 90 ).

 Schubert uses the Neapolitan Sixth chord - as seen in the song "The
 hateful color" from the cycle "The beautiful Mill-Girl" - as a symbol
                               of death.

   Since grabs us bare Horror - the Diminished Seventh Chord
                   expresses total Desperation

The diminished seventh chord is sound with several strong striving
tones described. There are music theorists agree. We replace these
descriptions of striving tones also here in our method, so we get the
following result:
When diminished seventh chord we identify us in several ways with a
desire against a change. Thus an idea to a "safety-with-hands-and-feet-
weirs" recalls. The emotional effect of this sound, however, depends
on whether the expected tonic a major or a minor chord is.

This may sound - when he played loud, and the tonic chord is a minor
- the feeling of total despair generate. In the romance is like the sound
of piano in the dynamic area and then has the effect of a melancholic

Is a tonic major, the dominant diminished seventh chord also can get
the character of a played despair within the meaning of coquetry.
Robert Schumann uses this happy effect on the double dominant
function if he childlike behavior musically distinguished wants.

  How this body from the song "The Crow" from the cycle "Winter
Journey" by Franz Schubert shows, the diminished seventh chord can
                 mediate a feeling of total despair.

 Miraculousness doing even when Augmented Chord - a Tone of

As a typical feature of the augmented chord is the vagueness of
existing strive-effects highlighted.). Diether de la Motte says: "Only
the context decides whether at E-G sharp-C G sharp or C is dissonant
(" harmony", page 88).

The application of our method to this sound is as follows:
Identification with a desire for a change cannot be clearly perceived.
The listener takes the attitude of the questioner. This sound is used as
an expression of oneself questioning of oneself, the wondering or

In the movie music does the sound match if something miraculous
happens. As example is the famous scene from the Kaestner filming
"Lottie and Lisa” by Josef von Baky to mention, in which both twins
until then nothing of the existence of the other knew, for the first time
astonishment face.

In the song "The Crow" from the cycle "Winter Journey" Schubert
accompanied by augmented chords, the word "miracle". The sound is
the first time in his dissonant effects not clearly.

 The augmented chord mediates a sense of miraculousness when his
  three chord tones - as seen in the song "The Crow" from the cycle
      "Winter Journey" - in the moment of her beginning in their
      consonance-dissonance-effect cannot be perceived clearly.

     The Whole Tone Scale gives us Wings - it does weightless
Striving behavior of the sounds of the whole scale of the music
theorists is fairly consistently described as extinct or nearly extinct.
Diether de la Motte says this: "Every tone of the scale can be
combined with any other; there is no resolution of dissonance.
("Harmony", page 250)

Similarly, the simple application of our method to the sounds of whole
tone scale: We can hardly identify us with a clearly addressed
perceived willingness.

The character of the whole tone scale corresponds to the idea of a
floating in zero gravity and is a typical style of Impressionism funds.
In the movie music find such sounds especially when used if
conditions of weightlessness musically to be entertained, as in scenes
under water, in space or - subjectively weightless - in a dream.

   In Impressionism the whole tone scale was used to the feeling of
    weightlessness to convey. In "Cloche travers les feuilles" from
"Images" by Claude Debussy, so the idea of a through the air floating
                       bell sound is generated.

          Because we fear - the Minor Sixth is the Anxiety

Finally the example of the Minor sixth should show that it not only
with full chords to express feelings, but already with a single interval.

We play a minor sixth spontaneously; it may sound strange way to a
feeling of anxiety producing. How can I explain? When searching for
an answer to this question is that the effect of the timid sixth
disappears when the expectation of the earpiece so affected that they
are no longer in the dissolution of the upper intermittent down into the
consonants fifth exists. This is done for example by preceding sounds,
the sixth of the character of an incomplete major chord lend.

The effect of the timid minor sixth must therefore be related to the
expectation of the resolution in the fifth stand. Contact us back our
initially derived method and describe the sound experience is not as
"Striving" of the minor sixth to fifth, but as an identification with a
will against the changing of the sixth to the fifth, the question arises as
follows: What could make it to the fifth so bad was that when we
identify with a will against the resolution in these sound a sense of
anxiety feel?

In search of the fifth character in literature, we find a quick
explanation. The Moser-music lexicon leads examples where the fifth
"horrible” or "bleak" sounds (Moser-music lexicon, page 1001). The
Ullstein music lexicon identifies the sound effect of the fifth "spooky"
(page 431).

Take the description "spooky" by Ullstein, we may experience when
listening to the minor sixth summarized as follows: In the minor sixth
we identify ourselves with a desire against a change to a spooky
situation. Who but with a desire against something ghostly identified,
which identifies itself - simple words - with a sense of fear. This
explains the effect of the timid minor sixth.

          The minor sixth can be a mood of anxiety to express

    The Strive Tendency Theory: A new Way of viewing Music

The question of the emotional impact of musical harmonies is
currently like never before. That Composers centuries before musical
harmonies used in a way, as they Striving Tendency Theory
corresponds to our true positive, but this finding represents a rich pool
of Pure and material and a wealth of new opportunities for further
research. We want to break a lance for one of the most exciting areas
of the music viewing: The emotional reception of musical harmonies.
If we can help it on a music theory comprehensible basis to do, we
have achieved an important objective. Would be exciting all our
investigations on other regions to expand: we would be happy to test
our preference CD cultures imagine their roots in other musical
traditions. To what extent, this one feeling for sound differentiation in
the sense described above bring, would be for us an interesting
question, to the answer we will continue to strive.