Musical Intervals

A musical interval is the difference in pitch between two sounds. Listen carefully to the following audio clip:

You have just heard 5 sounds. After the first sound, the second one is higher in pitch, the third lower, the fourth even lower and finally the fifth is slightly higher. So, some sounds are higher, some lower and when sounds follow one another as you heard earlier, these pitch differences create musical intervals.

Musical intervals are not produced randomly, there are well defined mathematical ratios between sounds’ pitches (at a physical level we are speaking of sound frequencies, see also the article Musical Sounds)

Musical Sounds

To understand what musical sounds are, we must first understand what sound is. Sound can be defined from two perspectives: one regards our perception through the auditory organ (the ear), and the other regards sound as a physical phenomenon. From a perceptual standpoint, sound is everything we can hear: the singing of birds, the noise of cars, the nervous beats in the radiator from the neighbor downstairs, or the voice of our mother calling us to the table to eat that wonderful broccoli, which has absolutely no taste. Read more

What Are Aesthetic Emotions?

Simply put, aesthetic emotions are what we feel while being in the presence of a work of art or artistic performance: contemplating a painting, a sculpture, listening to a concert, watching a film, or attending a theater performance. It is what “moves” us from within, astonishes us, fascinates us, and creates a deep connection with the artistic object. These emotions can be quite intense. Sometimes, they bring out tears, send shivers down our spines, or give us goosebumps. Or we burst into laughter. Read more

Music and Motherese (language of the mothers)

Music and motherese (language of the mothers)

Many people think that a child learns to be musical when attending for the first time kindergarten, school or maybe when taking his first piano lesson. Actually, our baby learns to be musical since the moment is born.

How does the baby learn to be musical? Interacting with his mother. Scientific studies have shown that we, mothers, when talking to our babies, we are not using the same language in the same way we speak with adults or older children. But no studies were needed about that, every mother already knows this.

Sanatate Prin Arte - Terapia prin arta si terapiile expresive

Art Therapy and Expressive Therapies

Art therapy and expressive therapies

Those interested in the field of art therapy will encounter for sure in their research the term ”expressive therapy”, used either as a substitute for ”art therapy” or with its own meaning, a wider one. So, what is the connection between art therapy and expressive therapies? For clarification, a bit of semantics is needed.

The word “art” may be used in two ways: with a more restricted meaning, encompassing just visual arts (drawing, painting, sculpture) and with a wider meaning, which includes all the arts: music, dance, theatre, movie etc. Read more

What Is Art Therapy?

What is art therapy?

Shortly defined, art therapy means using artistic activities and products resulting from these activities, in order to enhance people’s wellbeing. Art therapy may help us have a better view upon our inner conflicts and emotional deadlocks, and to understand what has to be done to deal with them.

Art therapy is performed under the guidance of an art therapist, a person who is trained both in therapy and arts, able to skilfully use certain artistic mediums (painting, music, dance) for therapeutic activities. Read more

Music and Emotions

Music and emotions

Even if we haven’t asked ourselves the question clearly, we all know that there is a connection between music and our emotional states. We listen to music because it tells us something and this something stirs emotions within us, some pleasant, others less pleasant, but no matter the case music does not leave us indifferent. Otherwise, why would we listen to it?

Scientists have tried to determine what emotions music communicates; there have been studies, experiments, all kinds of hypotheses issued, but there is no definitive answer, and most likely won’t be one. Science strives to be objective, its truths to be the same for all, but music addresses precisely to our subjectivity. If we put two people listen to a piece of music, the experiences and interpretations they would give of what they felt would never be identical. The perception of music depends on age, education, the culture where we are born and, last but not least, on the temperament of each person.

Facial Expressions of Emotion

Facial expressions of emotion

Faces identify us as unique beings. The interest for researching the face and finding out what we can say by just observing it, was present since ancient times. Yet, an extensive research of facial expressions was made by the psychologist Paul Ekman in the 70’. He catalogued all the human facial expressions, using a numbering system for each group of muscles involved in producing a facial expression. He found that certain emotions are always accompanied with certain facial expressions. Read more