#Hooked: Unlocking the Secret Science of Song

Hello festival peeps, not long to go now! I'm Erinma and last year I had a blast working on the fab citizen science experiment, Turing's Sunflowers. Now I'm back doing a residency at MOSI working with the Festival team to bring a new mass experiment to life. This time it's all about music and unlocking the secret science of song.

Back in May I went to the University of Amsterdam to meet with music cognition scientists, Dr John Ashley Burgoyne and Professor Henkjan Honing who have devised a fantastic experiment that needs your help.

Ashley and Henkjan are interested in musical memory - songs that we remember and can recall to mind just by thinking about them. The way they want to explore that is by looking at musical 'hooks' and what it is musically that makes a tune stick in our minds.

What's the idea?

Just hearing a few bars of a song, people will suddenly recall that tune to mind. The hook is the most noticeable part of a tune. It sticks in your mind and is the key to understanding why musical memories last a lifetime. The hook makes music memorable or catchy. And, songwriters, DJs and musicians know exactly how to use the hook to get everyone singing along or up on the dance floor.

Whilst visiting my family in Copenhagen I told my DJ brother, Thomas, all about #Hooked and he invited me along to Karriere bar to show me exactly how he uses hooks to get people on the dancefloor every Friday night.

Quite apart from having a great night out - it got me thinking about the wisdom of the non-science experts, DJs, musician, songwriters, music geeks and many more and making sure we include their perspectives to add a new dimension to understanding how music can play with our emotions, memories and quite literally move us.

There will be lots of personal and global stories we can tell, from the songs our parents gave us to this years top ten wedding songs to the songs that changed the world. Indeed much of human history is shared through songs.

Why does it matter?

“The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity. . .” — Neurologist, Oliver Sacks 

One of the things that I found quite astonishing is how personalised playlists of music are used in some care homes to help improve the quality of life of people with fading memories, including dementia. This phenomenon, where people are literally awakened from a stupor, and begin to dance and sing, has to be seen to be believed. So, whilst the experiment is going to be a lot of fun, it might also provide insights into long term memory and even failing memory, which could contribute to future Alzheimer's disease research.

What's the theory?

There are lots of theories about what makes music catchy (a danceable rhythm, a change in pitch etc) but little scientific evidence. By doing an experiment, designed as a game, we can test out these theories and see, for example, whether they apply to hooks in different genres of music. The game will be launched in early 2014 but in true citizen science style we want to get the public involved by kickstarting a debate on what makes music catchy.

A previous experiment analysed what makes music catchy by observing 1100 people singing along to songs out loud in pubs and clubs and concluded that the catchiest song of all time was 'we are the champions' by Queen. The scientists, musicologist Dr. Alison Pawley and psychologist Dr. Daniel Mullensiefen concluded there are four traits that make a song catchy: 1) Long and detailed musical phrases; 2) a number of pitches in the hook; 3) and male voices that are 4) high pitched. Read more about their findings here.

Mullensiefen said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for the textbook tune.”

Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/research/studies/what-makes-a-song-catchy-science-explains/#gfmMDiDIsaarR2T2.99

Mullensiefen said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for the textbook tune.”

Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/research/studies/what-makes-a-song-catchy-science-explains/#gfmMDiDIsaarR2T2.99

Mullensiefen said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for the textbook tune.”

Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/research/studies/what-makes-a-song-catchy-science-explains/#gfmMDiDIsaarR2T2.99

Mullensiefen said, “Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and technology, from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers that can add effects to make a song more catchy.
“We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song. We hope that our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for the textbook tune.”

Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/research/studies/what-makes-a-song-catchy-science-explains/#gfmMDiDIsaarR2T2.99

A related phenomenon, earworms or involuntary musical imagery, where catchy tunes get stuck in the head and uncontrollably repeat over and over, have been studied in the earwormery project by the music, brain and mind group at Goldsmith's University. They have been researching what musical features earworms have in common and what people who experience earworms might have in common. Finally they've also been looking at what purpose earworms might serve and how earworms might be cured.

Dr Lauren Stewart, from the music, brain and mind group said:

--> "What is interesting to us is the fact that this musical imagery comes to the brain without planned effort. It is as if comes from nowhere..."
The earwormery team discovered there are specific triggers for earworms - stress, sights, sounds or smells in the environment. And, just hearing a song can also trigger an earworm.

#Hooked

With #Hooked we aim to look at hooks in hundreds of thousands of songs using a name-that-tune game that asks players to recognise the song and then identify which bit in the song is the most catchy. But, as i said before, we need your help!

  

Imagine listening to a catchy tune, whats the part where you start singing out loud or start humming along? That's the hook... we want you to share your catchiest tunes and to tell us what you think makes it catchy.

Get involved

Taking part is easy, just complete this simple survey to crowdsource the playlist for the game and kickstart a debate on what makes music catchy.

Join us for the festival launch of #Hooked to debate what makes music catchy, from hooks, to earworms and hit songs with Ashley Burgoyne, Lauren Stewart and Daniel Mullensiefen. Then dance to your catchiest tunes at our silent disco.

MOSI's presenters, James and Darren, will also feature in Captain #Hooked, a daily festival show and featuring a very special guest to get the kids dancing on the 30th of October.

Meantime, tweet your catchiest tune (name & artist) to #hookedplaylist or upload a short video showing us your catchiest bit in the tune you've picked - tag your videos with hookedplaylist so we can find and share them.

Hooked is a MOSI initiative in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, the University of Manchester and supported by the Wellcome Trust.