AUTHOR=Mathur Avantika , Vijayakumar Suhas H. , Chakrabarti Bhismadev , Singh Nandini C. 

TITLE=Emotional responses to Hindustani raga music: the role of musical structure

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00513

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00513

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>In Indian classical music, <italic>ragas</italic> constitute specific combinations of tonic intervals potentially capable of evoking distinct emotions. A <italic>raga</italic> composition is typically presented in two modes, namely, <italic>alaap</italic> and <italic>gat</italic>. <italic>Alaap</italic> is the note by note delineation of a <italic>raga</italic> bound by a slow tempo, but not bound by a rhythmic cycle. <italic>Gat</italic> on the other hand is rendered at a faster tempo and follows a rhythmic cycle. Our primary objective was to (1) discriminate the emotions experienced across <italic>alaap</italic> and <italic>gat</italic> of <italic>ragas</italic>, (2) investigate the association of tonic intervals, tempo and rhythmic regularity with emotional response. 122 participants rated their experienced emotion across <italic>alaap</italic> and <italic>gat</italic> of 12 <italic>ragas</italic>. Analysis of the emotional responses revealed that (1) <italic>ragas</italic> elicit distinct emotions across the two presentation modes, and (2) specific tonic intervals are robust predictors of emotional response. Specifically, our results showed that the ‘minor second’ is a direct predictor of negative valence. (3) Tonality determines the emotion experienced for a <italic>raga</italic> where as rhythmic regularity and tempo modulate levels of arousal. Our findings provide new insights into the emotional response to Indian<italic> ragas</italic> and the impact of tempo, rhythmic regularity and tonality on it.</p>