Making a Case for Consonance

There are a lot of things that differ between being a performing musician and being a music therapist. One of these is the way in which we listen to and appreciate different styles of music. Music therapists tend to use a lot of popular songs so that our clients have familiarity with the music that will help them communicate, move, and create. In large part, the magic of familiar music in a therapeutic context has to do with anticipation - our brains pay attention to music and figure out what’s coming next, which creates excitement in the brain. We feel good when our brain’s musical predictions are realized- yet, dopamine is released right before that happens in music. That’s how well our brains predict what’s coming! You can hear thousands of examples of this musically- in classical music, cadences are used that make us wait to hear the typical ending of a V chord to a I chord (the tonic). Sometimes our auditory anxiety is prolonged by the use of harmonic suspension or tempo reduction at the end of a piece. 

In pop music, there are usually only three or four chords used to get the point across. And that means it is quite easy for the western ear to anticipate what is coming. If our choices are just I, IV, V, and maybe vi, we know that the I is going to land eventually. The tonic in music is easy to recognize, even by untrained listeners. I meet a lot of people who say they can’t carry a tune in a basket, but it’s simply not true- less than 4% of the population suffer from amusia. Most people have an ear for music- especially music that is familiar, repetitive, and/or predictable. 

Musicians, on the other hand, have developed this ear for music, but it has begun to bore them. Knowing that the tonic is going to come back isn't enough to keep some musicians interested in the basic chord progressions of pop music. So musicians want to find something really surprising while they're listening to music. A break in our expectation- an unexpected chord structure, rhythmic shift, or even drop in tempo- releases even more dopamine. Musicians who have been studying and playing music for decades may respond to this in a manner that sort of mirrors addiction. The brain will reduce the number of dopamine receptors in the brain to adjust for the increased dopamine in the system. Sometimes, this can lead to anhedonia, or a loss of pleasure in favorite activities. So while I appreciate some dissonance and crunchy, diverting chord changes from a theory standpoint, I think there is something to be said for simplicity. 

The past few years have been tough on everyone. We’ve been living through a pandemic and a lot of major life changes that came along with it- losses, moves, illnesses, work stressors. All of that stress feels like one long disturbing chord that may or may not resolve (for an example, listen to the third movement of Prokofiev’s String Quartet No.1).

It’s okay to spend some time this winter just sitting in the tonic. Allow yourself to enjoy the basic return to the I chord, the consonant and expected cadence that lands on a triad without inversion. Perhaps the chord leading to the I isn’t even a dominant! Perhaps there’s no fermata! Maybe the entire piece of music is just the I chord, with an upbeat rhythm and lyrics about hope. It’s okay if you want to just sit down and listen to something relaxing, knowing the resolution is going to come. There is a sense of relief that comes with having our expectations met, and a sense of hope that comes from knowing what may be expected. And after all we’ve been through, I’m giving us all permission to unabashedly celebrate the consonance- tonic for our souls.