Why Do We Listen to Sad Music?: Exploring the Emotional Pull of Melancholic Melodies

When you feel sad, what do you find yourself doing? Do you cry? Take a walk? Seek consolation from a friend? Each of these responses offer their own ways to ease emotional distress, and are all valuable methods to manage heavy emotions. But there is another powerful outlet that is often overlooked: music. Music has a unique ability to express and communicate emotions, and, remarkably, can help us associate or recall certain experiences in our lives through simple melodies and arrangement of musical elements. Do you sometimes find yourself listening to sad music when you are in that sad mood? Why is that?

The concept of “sad music” is inherently subjective, shaped by how listeners interpret the emotional content of a musical piece. When you think of “sad” music, it can typically be characterized by a slower tempo,a minor musical scale, less energetic execution, etc. (Juslin et al, 2004) However, what makes music truly feel “sad” is less about any objective quality, but moreso, about how these musical elements resonate with listeners’ emotions. Armitage et al (2024) examined the various technical elements of music, such as timbre, mode, harmony, etc, that contribute to “congruence”, which is the alignment of musical elements with certain moods. The authors suggest that listeners may define “sad music” based on the emotional response that the composition evokes (Armitage et al, 2024) Others may analyze the lyrics or themes, which can bring up memories or feelings beyond those created by the music itself (Van den Tol et al, 2013) The act of listening to “sad” music can be subjective too in that the listener may not necessarily experience genuine sadness at the time of listening, but may be in a state of some other related emotion, such as nostalgia (Huron, 2011). Some find themselves listening to sad music as a way to vent their own negative emotions or to not feel alone in their experience of negative emotions. (Garrido, 2011) The interpretative nature of music allows listeners the freedom to experience and express sadness in diverse ways. Music can provide a flexible and safe outlet for listeners to find a personalized form of solace and self-expression. 

Choosing to listen to music when you’re sad, particularly music that is “sad” to you, often serves as a way to manage rather than exacerbate those intense emotions. Research from Armitage et al  (2024) showed that the way a melody shifts between major and minor scales or varies in timbre could deepen a listener’s emotional engagement with specific emotional cues. When melodies are structured with slower tempos and are in a minor key, they tend to mirror somber moods, evoking a powerful emotional response. Garrido et. al (2011) found that sad music can foster an empathetic bond between the listened and the conveyed emotions, allowing individuals to explore their sadness within a safe, comforting melody. This engagement with a listener and the composition of a song helps listeners feel understood and paves the way for certain music to connect to them on a personal level. 

Listening to sad music when feeling heavy emotions becomes an active form of sense-making and emotional regulation. Reybrouck et al (2020) characterize this process as a coping behavior in which music can regulate emotions through physiological, behavioral, and cognitive responses. The study suggests that listeners often choose music based on their specific emotional needs, allowing it to adjust their external and internal environments. Sachs et al (2015) found that sadness evoked by melancholic music can paradoxically lead to pleasure as the experience triggers prolactin release. Prolactin is a hormone typically associated with emotional bonding and reducing distress, and is released in moments of emotional pain or experienced empathetic sadness, which is often evoked from melancholic music to a listener. This physiological response may explain why listeners often feel a sense of calm or pleasure from sad music, and even transform a sad experience into an enjoyable one for a listener. 

Listening to music in the midst of feeling heavy emotions is a deeply interpretative and personalized form of self-regulation, providing individuals with a profound experience of solace, empathy, and reflection. The specific musical elements of a song, even the precise details of its tempo, harmony, and lyrical content play a critical role in enhancing our connection to our emotions. By engaging with music that mirrors our inner thoughts, we subconsciously create a safe space for emotional exploration that can bring relief. Choosing music that aligns with our emotional needs highlights the unique ability of music to not only evoke our true feelings, but to also emphasize the power of melody and rhythm during times of our distress. 

References 

Armitage, J., Eerola, T. & Halpern, A.R. Play it again, but more sadly: Influence of timbre, mode, and musical experience in melody processing. Mem Cogn (2024). https://doi-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/10.3758/s13421-024-01614-8

Garrido, S., and Schubert, E. (2011). Negative emotion in music: what is the attraction? a qualitative study. Empir. Musicol. Rev. 6, 214–230.   

Huron, D. (2011). Why is sad music pleasurable? A possible role for prolactin. Mus. Sci. 15, 146–158. doi: 10.1177/1029864911401171

Juslin, P.N. & Vastfjall, D. (2008) Emotional response to music: the need to consider underlying mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 31 No. 559-621.

Reybrouck, M., Podlipniak, P., & Welch, D. (2020). Music Listening as Coping Behavior: From Reactive Response to Sense-Making. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 10(7), 119. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10070119

Sachs, M. E., Damasio, A., & Habibi, A. (2015). The pleasures of sad music: a systematic review. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9, 404. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00404 

Van den Tol, A. J. M., and Edwards, J. (2013). Listening to sad music in

adverse situations: how music selection strategies relate to self-regulatory goals,

listening effects and mood enhancement. Psychol. Music 41, 440–465. doi: 10.

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