Did your “happy song” make the list?

What is your happy song? According to one Dutch neuroscientist, most happy songs have some distinctive traits in common. Several years ago, Dr. Jacob Jolij—at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands—was asked to examine a list of favorite songs compiled by the UK-based electronica band Alba. Although not a peer reviewed study, his investigation discovered several trends among the given examples of perky music. “Happy” or “feel good” songs have significantly faster tempos than average pop music, they tend to have cheerful lyrics, and are more often in a major key.

When Jolij was first approached to examine the data set of happy songs, he had to take a qualitative method to analyze trends within the set. As a researcher, he emphasized on his website that what makes a happy song is “highly personal and strongly depends on social context and personal associations.” Each song in the data set was chosen by the surveyed person for personal reasons, but analysis of musical technicalities provided some hard data. The songs averaged 140 to 150 beats per minute, a tempo that’s about 20 or more beats higher than the average pop tune. This upbeat rhythm probably subliminally reenergizes listeners. The surveyed songs were also much more likely to be in a major key rather than a minor key. Jolij commented that a major third key, specifically, is recieved as a happy, confident sound.[…]

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