We know music is pleasurable, the question is why?
&gt; There is something that still rings true of Mattheson’s general idea. We do tend to associate some musical features with being uplifted and others with melancholic reflection, both of which might afford a certain subsequent pleasure to listeners.<p>I have always wondered if we know how much of the emotion associated with music is learned from culture. To put it another way, is a sad song inherently sad? Or is it sad because the culture we grew up in tells us that it is sad? (The answer is probably some combination of both.) There must have been studies about this, but I haven&#x27;t come across any yet.