puppersandcoffee t1_j9wl814 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 2:00 AM

I recently listened to a neuroscience podcast that says we have been conditioned to associate them that way.

BurnOutBrighter6 t1_j9xdpws wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:20 AM

It's this! For people with a lifetime listening to Western (meaning North American and European) music, your brain is just assuming "major = happy and minor = sad" because that's what you've mostly been exposed to.

But eg in Jewish music, minor keys are used all the time and don't imply anything negative. Hava Nagila is super minor and it's a wedding song that literally translates to "Let's Celebrate".

And even in Western music, that "rule" of major = happy is far from universal. Pumped Up Kicks is a dark song in a major key, SexyBack by Timberlake and Yeah by Usher are happy songs in a minor key. There's tons of cases like this, they're just not the majority. Most sad songs are minor so it's just an association we develop from past experience.

ValvanHNW t1_j9wlmdt wrote on February 25, 2023 at 2:04 AM

Another thing to think about is sad music in major and happy music in minor, it exists and it's not even terribly uncommon

snash222 t1_j9wrfci wrote on February 25, 2023 at 2:50 AM

I recall reading that on some cultures it is reversed.

BurnOutBrighter6 t1_j9xd8h3 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:14 AM

Correct! For example the Jewish musical tradition is extensively minor, even the happiest of songs. Think of Hava Nagila. Musically, that's as minor as it gets - but it literally translates to "Let's Celebrate" and it's traditionally a party song sung by large groups at weddings.

Besides Jewish music, there is also a lot of other Balkan / Eastern European music that has this "reversed" rule and uses minor in ways that aren't meant to imply anything negative emotionally.