Songs or music that stays in our mind for several hours are earworms, a phenomenon for which researchers have just found new explanations and how to stop it.
- Having music in your head is a phenomenon called an earworm.
- According to researchers, you are more likely to have it if you are not focused.
- To get rid of it, you can try to listen to another music or finish the one you have in mind.
From morning to evening ! When we have a melody in mind, it can sometimes stay in our minds for a whole day. In the scientific literature, this phenomenon is called an earworm. Having a song in your head is an involuntary musical imagery, that is, a type of mental imagery, which can be more or less enjoyable depending on the song. If the earworm can become annoying, it is completely harmless to health. But researchers have just found a new explanation for this phenomenon and how to put an end to it.
Earworm: why does a song stay on top?
The work has been published in the journal Music & Science. “Putting together the existing literature, it seems that there is one essential characteristic for a song to become an earworm: the music must have some repetition”explains Emery Schubert, one of the authors of this study, in a communicated.
Until now, scientists had demonstrated that, to generate an earworm, the music should have a hook, that is to say a passage intended to capture attention. It is often a riff, either a combination of notes, chords or a chorus played repeatedly.
“But what has not been taken into account is that this hook must be repeated in the music, most often in the chorus, says Emery Schubert. This suggests that earworms may not be related to musical characteristics. The music doesn’t matter, as long as the repetition is part of the musical structure.“
Music comes to mind when our mind is distracted
The researchers also discovered other characteristics necessary for an earworm to develop: familiarity with music, having heard it recently, but also being in a time when our mind is occupied with activities. which do not require much attention. In other words, if you’re not focused, you’re more likely to get music in your head!
“If you’re really concerned with the environment you’re in, focused on a task, you won’t get an earworm, continues Emery Schubert. The earworm doesn’t care about enjoyment, but rather how familiar the music is, when something similar was heard, and whether or not there is repetition in the music.”
But, when a melody sticks to our skin, how to get rid of it? “You may be able to stop an earworm by ending the music, consciously thinking of another piece of music, or [chassant de votre esprit] triggers, such as words or memories related to music or lyrics”explains Emery Schubert.
