Ever had a song just...lodge itself in your brain? You're not alone! That's an earworm, and science has figured out why they happen. Researchers at the University of St Andrews developed a formula ...

Composer Marc Neikrug watches a rehearsal for the Philadelphia debut of his chamber opera ‘’A Song by Mahler’’ at the Kimmel Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY) The singer chastises their paramour for loving for ...

In his research, Bonshor found that combining a major key, 7th chords, a 137 BPM, a strong beat, four beats in every bar and a structure of verese-chorus-verse-chorus is the best way to compose a ...

Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was a tireless, energetic performer who skillfully interacted with the rock band’s massive crowds. In the mid-1970s, they took this band-crowd relationship one step ...

Have you ever found yourself listening to the same song on repeat for hours, days, or even weeks? That magnetic pull to hit the replay button isn’t just a quirky habit, it’s rooted in neuroscience and ...

Humans must have learned to sing early in our history because “we can find something we can call music in every society,” says musicologist Yuto Ozaki of Keio University in Tokyo. But did singing ...

A new study that reviewed Billboard hits from the past 73 years found a steady simplification of rhythm and pitch. Credit... Supported by By Alexander Nazaryan “Well, we’re all in the mood for a ...

Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. You know that feeling when you just can’t get a song out of your head—just a short part of it playing over and over?

A common phenomenon, earworms are tunes that get stuck in your head. Scientists explain these musical loops are caused by repetitive patterns and emotional connections. Brain regions like the auditory ...