We finally know why live music makes us so emotional

Hearing live music tugs at our heartstrings more than a recording, probably because it increases activity in an emotion-processing region in our brain

By Chen Ly

26 February 2024

Elton John performing at Glastonbury Festival in June 2023

Matt Crossick/Alamy

Hearing live music may be more stirring than listening to a recording of the same tune because it triggers greater activity in the part of the brain linked to processing emotions.

Sascha Frühholz at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and his colleagues composed 12 pieces of music, each lasting 30 seconds. Half were written with the aim of conveying negative emotions, such as sadness and anger. These were slower, less harmonious and included more minor chords than the remaining songs, written to evoke positive emotions.

They then recruited 27 people, who weren’t musically trained, to listen to these 12 pieces twice – once performed by a live pianist, which the participants heard through a speaker, and once as a recording.

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The order they heard them was randomly assigned, with 30 seconds of silence in between. The participants didn’t know when they were hearing a recording or live music.

While listening to the music, they lay in an MRI scanner so the team could monitor their brain activity. The pianist was told to adapt the volume and speed of the piece according to this activity. For example, if a participant was showing little activity in response to a positive piece of music, they may have played louder.