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This is an interesting topic to me. I for sure get actual goosebumps from moments in my favorite songs.
But come on man... this source is absolute garbage. It's not really a readable article. Just a few sentences thrown together, in a very click-baity looking website.
Here is an article, with a research paper attached. https://neurosciencenews.com/music-chills-neuroscience-6167/ https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/11/6/884/2223400
And another better article https://scroll.in/article/808773/why-do-only-some-people-get...
> Plus these sensations can also be associated with memories linked to a certain song, which cannot be controlled in a laboratory setting.
First band I thought about after reading this sentence is Boards of Canada. In an article published last year [1] they explain how music by the group is able to inject memories of childhood and foresee the notion of the lost future.
I personally get goosebumps in almost every song by this band.
[1] https://pitchfork.com/features/article/why-boards-of-canadas...
Agree. Boards of Canada are easily on my top 10 of best bands ever. Top of the list is Mazzy Star, the absolute best of goose bump dream pop.
it took me a long time to get into BoC but the strange thing is that I never get sick of them. there are very few bands that do that. (Mogwai does that too or within the hibhop genre that would be The Roots, or Mos Def).
It seems that the quicker I like a band/song the quicker I also get sick of it. And music that I have to get used to with passive listening - e.g. have them playing in the background but not when running or driving then the longer I like them. Some artists and albums have literally stayed with me for decades. (e.g. The Roots Illadelphia Halflife or Things Fall Apart acompanied me when my kids were born, when I got my dog, when my dog died, when I got married, when my kids left for university, ...). Not every band is around that long or is able to adapt its music style to remain relevant (for my taste) ...
I remember the times when I went to buy music at record stores and there was no way of just purchasing the top 3 tracks from an album and skip the rest. You either bought the whole album or you got a single but there was nothing in between. Having shelled out the money I then wanted to make an effort to also give those songs "a chance" that didn't immediately stick. And it was always those more complex tunes that I ended up liking the most ...
There's tons of amazing dream-pop/shoegaze. Yo La Tengo, Cocteau Twins, Pity Sex, etc. etc. etc.
Thank you for this. Listening now. Really good stuff. This is the kind of electronic music that is right up my alley. Straddles the line between ambient and lyrical, abstract and structured. Seems like it would also be really great to use as work music, especially for coding.
there is a project called Music for Programming [1] and that's exactly how I found out about BoC.
[1] https://musicforprogramming.net (track #4 min. 0:14:45)
As a huge boc fan, I legitimately got goosebumps reading this comment.
I think this kind of article appeals to egos, not science.
But we're all OK with that.
There's nothing wrong with upvoting a fun little article that gives you goosebumps every now and again.
If this article gives you goosebumps see our next article about how that makes you special.
Doesn't everyone get this sensation?
Roughly estimating from conversations I have had about this with people over the years, I'd say most people do. Perhaps the headline should have been;
>If music doesn't give you goosebumps, your brain might be special
edit - however, then the word 'special' tends to flip to its contranym, so they probably wouldn't want to run with that.
>Roughly estimating from conversations I have had about this with people over the years, I'd say most people do.
Literal goosebumps or figure of speech? I don't think most people get literal goosebumps from music...
Told my wife a few years ago that I do get goosebumps and she wouldn't believe me, so I know of at least one person who doesn't
Possibly -- but who is going to share the article when it tells them they're not special?
Of a sample of 20 people, 10 participants self-reported experiencing goosebumps when listening to music, 10 didn't; the DTI brain machine finds they have different connectivity between certain regions of the brain.
Who gets to be _the special_ out of two sets with an equal number of members? :)
I think many people understand this is as a figure of speech, not as literal goosebumps.
edit: Yes, some people get literal goosebumps! Just highlighting there are two groups here.
I was already coming here to comment (even before you said this) on how this seems to rhyme with picturing something in your mind's eye, which I always grokked as being figurative speech.
I realized through my relationship with my partner and later a coworker that some people picture things with extraordinary acuity (so much so that I can trigger revolt or disgust by just describing something), but I thought they were the special ones. It wasn't until I read about Derek Parfit having aphantasia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia) that I realized I was sitting somewhere out in the long tail of human experience.
I get literal goosebumps for certain songs, and it is kind of all over the place (music wise). If someone puts on Adele's Rolling in the Deep, the part where she belts out in the chorus, I always get physical goosebumps.
I never realized not everyone can do this, but I also can wiggle my ears, another useless genetic trait.
They are literal for me. Happens infrequently and only certain types of songs.
yes literally, sometimes coupled with an overwhelming rush of emotions that makes my eyes well up (doesn't have to be in a sad way, and depends on the situation and music).
I don't think I have ever experienced this. I do however experience something like the opposite: music I don't like can evoke anything from a mild sense of dread to an almost caged-animal level of irritation - a very physical level of tension I feel all over. Especially horrid are the highly repetitive songs with vapid lyrics which inevitably go on to punish me by becoming an ear-worm infection for hours on end leaving me feeling exhausted. It makes the day seem unendurably long.
I am a bit of an odd duck when it comes to music though. I often go for weeks and weeks without actively seeking out any music at all. Not that I don't like music, I do, but I don't regularly experience that need for it that so many others seem to have. But, when I am programming and need to go into hyper-focus mode, I often find fast-paced Metal is the ticket, energizing and stimulating.
I've never once gotten goosebumps from music (Or movies or really anything other than the temperature).
I bet most get that feeling of intense excitement, but only few get actual, legit goosebumps.
I just thought this was normal.
Everyone's special :)
I don't.
Apparently not.
Some IDM tunes gave me shivers in the past, like Bola or Squarepusher.
And most noticably certain letter styles. Berlin graffiti from the late 90s, early 00s. DRM/BAD crews.
Same here, it's definitely not just music.
Edit: Thanks for giving me something new to listen to today :)
Musical goosebumps are also called frisson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson
I hate to link a sub, but there's a lot of material shared for invoking frisson:
I may be even more "special" (in the article's own words) since I can give myself goosebumps at will. It's kinda like flexing a muscle, just on the back of my head.
Funnily, I searched for "I can give myself goosebumps" for the first time just a few days ago, and this[0] article popped out. Same website, identical title. (Then I also searched for "music gives me goosebumps" and got the one posted here.)
[0]: https://www.indy100.com/article/if-you-can-give-yourself-goo...
Interesting, I've always taken being able to do it for granted.
Usually do it without thinking when I'm very engaged in something and have an intense thought.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's live recordings can have that affect on me. I wonder if it's similar for non-Urdu/Punjabi speakers:
I don’t understand most of the words in his qawwalis but yes. His singing was out of this world. Like at the WOMAD festival in 1988: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEIKmwVpOhQ
I was wondering if this wasn't the same effect that ASMR exploits, but:
> ASMR aficionados make a distinction between ASMR and frisson, the goosebumps and tingles that can be produced by an amazing piece of music.
TIL! (I've never really tried ASMR, but I have a few songs that semi-reliably trigger this "frisson".)
I listen to music all day while working that frequently triggers frisson. However, I cannot stand ASMR, especially bodily noises including mouth stuff like talking and lip smacking. That might just be Misophonia (TIL) though.
I am the same. I have an irrational hatred of those wet-mouth whisper videos, it makes my skin crawl but not in the same way as this article describes.
It doesn't have to do with being special it's just that music is touching something very deep inside you. It depends both on the intensity of the music and receptivity of the listener and can be developed.
Strangely enough, music can do this. But I can also do it just with a thought as well. It takes about 30 seconds for the goosebumps to be visible
Not sure why. I just can.
I get goosebumps by ideas. Reading this thread gave me goosebumps - although I'll admit I consciously focused on helping it along.
I don’t get frisson from music, but I do when I learn a new topic. Do others not get that?
I sometimes get goosebumps before the song even starts in anticipation of the song, just thinking of how it sounds.
I love music very much.
Haha.
Also, I don’t remember if this is against HN protocol, but almost every comment of yours is marked dead for the past 3 months except for like 4.