Humor in Music
It would be an understatement to say that music is a fundamental part of everyday life, and by extent, the human experience. From the nursery rhymes you learned as a kid, to music in the background of grocery stores, to the theme song from your favorite show, it can be easy to forget its near constant presence.
You could say music’s main appeal lies in the fact that it strikes a chord with the listener. Like other forms of art, music tends to elicit those primal emotions deeply rooted inside your fragile rib cage that wouldn’t translate easily into words.
However, some emotional reactions are more familiar than others. Sadness, happiness, nostalgia, and hopefulness may come to mind. But what about amusement? Although parodies and comedy sketches of music are by no means uncommon, it could be hard to pinpoint what about music alone makes it humorous. If unaccompanied by visuals, text, or even lyrics, could you still find music funny?
What Makes Music Funny?
A study was conducted involving the changing of the final note in a simple melody. Would changing the final note produce a humorous response from participants? Would there be a greater humorous reaction depending on how incongruous the note was compared with the expected final note? The study was testing the Incongruity Theory, or the Incongruity-Resolution Theory, which I’ve mentioned before. If you need a refresher, the Incongruity Theory states that a joke produces humor because it conveys ambiguous information; it can be interpreted in opposite ways. If something heavily contrasts with what was expected, then according to the Incongruity Theory, it can produce a humorous reaction. In fact, the aforementioned study turned out to match the theory. As long as the melody was playful (in a major key), and the final note was higher than the tonic final note, the participants had humorous reactions. However, the Incongruity Theory isn’t the only use of humor in music.
More Theories
Instead of reading more paragraphs, here is an informal chart I made of some theories on humor on music:
Uses of Humor in Music
What characteristics/categories can you apply to the videos below? Do you agree with Schütze or Stein?
Conclusion
Humor in music seems to follow the same theories as applicable to regular jokes, only with added characteristics specifying how they work in a musical context (e.g. tempo markings). Generally, although audiences can appreciate humor in music, knowledge of humorous music, music theory, and its historical/cultural context can enhance the perception of humor (as in getting the joke).
However, it is important to remember humor’s subjectivity. Most people can detect when someone intends to be funny, but whether they appreciate it or not depends on the individual’s past experiences; certain people are naturally drawn to certain joke structures.
Although we specifically focused on humor in instrumental music, humorous stage performances, lyrics, visual content, and acting (in theater and opera) are additionally key factors of musical humor. Especially since we only examined music in Europe, who knows how much there is to learn about humor and music around the world?
Thank you for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for April!
