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broadened to include subjective emotion ratings (self-reports), facial activity
(EMG), autonomic responses (heart and respiration rate, skin conductivity), and
brain activity (EEG). The observed responses should be linked to particular features
of the musical structure to see which features are responsible for the observed
phenomena. The tests should also include powerful mathematical modeling to asses
the degree of synchronization between the biological subsystems involved.
As far as the BRECVEM model concerns, it could help resolve the debate
between
eld
and provide answers in a series of open issues. One issue is about which emotions
music can induce. This is of importance for emotional models used for decades in
music and emotion research. Some researchers argue that music can induce basic
emotions, while others argue that can induce both basic and complex emotions. It
seems that which emotions can be induced depends on the mechanism activated.
Furthermore, the proposed framework allows the induction of mixed emotions
when two or more mechanisms are activated simultaneously. Another issue is
whether music emotions are different from other emotions in everyday life. It
appears that the emotions evoked by music are similar to other emotions since the
mechanisms involved are to some extend common. Another implication concerns
physiological responses to music. Most studies investigated musical emotions by
trying to establish links between music and physiological measures without con-
sidering the underlying mechanisms. Better understanding of the relationship
between physiological data and emotions, by considering the mechanisms involved,
will help the interpretation of physiological and brain imaging data.
It is widely accepted that music has positive health effects and is used to regulate
emotions and mood which in turn positively in
“
cognitivists
”
and
“
emotivists,
”
remove existing disagreements in the
uences reactions and stress. The
understanding of the underlying mechanisms will contribute to music therapy
practice by highlighting the processes involved in different therapy techniques.
6.4
The Role of Musical Structure on Emotion
Musical characteristics, such as tempo, mode, loudness, pitch, timbre, and so on,
are inherent properties of the structure of music, and it has been shown to in
uence
emotional responses to music (Juslin and Sloboda
2010
). The relation between
characteristics of musical structure and emotional responses during music listening
has been the subject of investigation for decades (see Gabrielson and Lindstroem
2010
for a review).
6.4.1 Effect of Mode and Tempo
The most widely investigated musical characteristics are mode and tempo. The
pioneering work of Hevner (
1935
,
1937
) was the
rst to demonstrate that both
tempo and mode affect the emotional response to music. Short pieces of tonal music
