# Do different pieces of music "taste" different to you?



## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

While listening to Songs of Travel by Vaughan Williams, I got to thinking about how different pieces of music and specifically the melodies and harmonies in those pieces tend to provide me with such drastically different and unique feelings. Similar to trying a new food every time I hear a new piece of music. So basically I'm asking if two different brilliant pieces both give you the exact same feeling of "musical enjoyment". The specific good feeling inside our head we all strive for when listening to music. Now I know sad pieces will make people feel sad and upbeat pieces will make people feel happy, but I'm talking about on the most specific level possible. 

For me, each new work, melody, or harmony I hear is like tasting a new food but instead of a new unique taste, each new piece of music provides me with a never before felt feeling or emotion. It's as if the music sets off the release of a chemical cocktail in my brain that is mixed differently every single time rather than the same old yet still enjoyable feeling. 

So does anyone else think about these things or do you have your own unique way of experiencing the feeling of the music? I feel like the point I'm trying to make is a very complex one so if no one knows what the hell I'm saying, I understand.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

I don't know how many feelings there are in our bodies to experience. The differentiation might just be the thoughts that we attach to those feelings/emotions. Because what some call fear, another calls excitement. 

But yes, of course each composer has their own flavor. Otherwise, I would've been bored a long time ago. Sometimes I almost feel like my other senses are getting involved somehow. I'm not just hearing it, but I can smell it, taste it, touch it…. The brain is the motherboard of all these senses. So I guess if it gets stimulated in certain ways, you get a cocktail of experiences. 

I just love music.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Continuing on the taste metaphor, I recently heard a science podcast about our sense of smell. Traditionally it was thought humans could discern only a handful of chemicals -- or maybe a few hundred, but more recent studies indicate it may well be up in the trillions! We have more varieties of olfactory receptors than we do color receptors and the brain is very good at interpreting their combinations. (I think the podcast was either Quirks and Quarks or BBC 5 Live's The Naked Scientist)

I'm not saying music is related to smell or taste. Only that if the brain can do this with very subtle differences in chemical effluvia, it may well do the same for sound combinations, each eliciting a different combination of endorphins and hormones.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Yes, to my taste some taste better than others.


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

Vesuvius said:


> I don't know how many feelings there are in our bodies to experience. The differentiation might just be the thoughts that we attach to those feelings/emotions. Because what some call fear, another calls excitement.
> 
> But yes, of course each composer has their own flavor. Otherwise, I would've been bored a long time ago. Sometimes I almost feel like my other senses are getting involved somehow. I'm not just hearing it, but I can smell it, taste it, touch it…. The brain is the motherboard of all these senses. So I guess if it gets stimulated in certain ways, you get a cocktail of experiences.
> 
> I just love music.





Weston said:


> Continuing on the taste metaphor, I recently heard a science podcast about our sense of smell. Traditionally it was thought humans could discern only a handful of chemicals -- or maybe a few hundred, but more recent studies indicate it may well be up in the trillions! We have more varieties of olfactory receptors than we do color receptors and the brain is very good at interpreting their combinations. (I think the podcast was either Quirks and Quarks or BBC 5 Live's The Naked Scientist)
> 
> I'm not saying music is related to smell or taste. Only that if the brain can do this with very subtle differences in chemical effluvia, it may well do the same for sound combinations, each eliciting a different combination of endorphins and hormones.


Good points there and that is pretty interesting about the trillions of possibilities with smell. That is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to express.


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