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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday November 08 2016, @11:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the Louie-Louie dept.

Most casual listeners have experienced an earworm before. Certain songs, such as The Knack's "My Sharona" or Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," have the uncanny capacity to become lodged in our heads. And it's not just pop music – unshakeable musical repetitions have fascinated composers throughout the ages, from Carpentras to Berlioz. But why do some songs stick more than others?

In an attempt to find out, Kelly Jakubowski of Britain's Durham University directed a 3,000-person survey on the subject of earworms. Her study found that certain compositional elements – the combination of familiar melodic structures with unusual intervals, for example – were prone to "stickiness," independent of factors like radio popularity. But could these findings change the way composers write music? And if so, should they?

[...] Many earworms also contained slight musical quirks, such as an odd interval or repetition. "Bad Romance," which topped the list, contains such a quirk: The song's chorus, which was composed in the key of A minor, features an out-of-key E major chord.

[...] In the Durham University study, several participants reported that they could get rid of an earworm by listening to the British national anthem "God Save the Queen." Others suggested listening to the earworm itself in an effort to "unstick" it.

Gagh! The mere mention of the word "earworm" sticks the The River of Dreams (YouTube) in my head . Save me, "God Save the Queen!"


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 09 2016, @12:24AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 09 2016, @12:24AM (#424302)

    People should remember you

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvDMlk3kSYg [youtube.com]