Why Are We Attracted to Sad Music?

In this book, perspectives in psychology, aesthetics, history and philosophy are drawn upon to survey the value given to sad music by human societies throughout history and today. Why do we love listening to music that makes us cry? This mystery has puzzled philosophers for centuries and tends to defy traditional models of emotions. Sandra Garrido presents empirical research that illuminates the psychological and contextual variables that influence our experience of sad music, its impact on our mood and mental health, and its usefulness in coping with heartbreak and grief. By means of real-life examples, this book uses applied music psychology to demonstrate the implications of recent research for the use of music in health-care and for wellbeing in everyday life.

“Garrido has written a book that is interesting and provides the reader with numerous studies that discuss attraction to sad music. The book is a valuable resource in the study of psychology, especially when a person is suffering from depression. The insight provided in regards to the link between listening to sad music, depression, nostalgia and rumination is fascinating.” (Hennie Weiss, metapsychology online reviews, metapsychology.mentalhelp.net, Vol. 21 (38), September, 2017)“Why Are We Attracted to Sad Music? is fresh, erudite, and exhaustively researched. A great strength of the work is its breadth of scholarship. … In addition to psychologists, the book will also be of interest to emotion researchers, philosophers of aesthetics, and musicologists. … In summary, Garrido offers an expansive, exhaustively researched dissertation on sad music across a range of disparate literatures.” (J. Ian Norris, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (22), May, 2017) 

Dr. Sandra Garrido is a researcher in music psychology, a pianist and violinist, and the mother of two small boys. After completing her PhD at the University of New South Wales, Australia, she spent several years in research at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions. She is currently a Dementia Research Fellow at the MARCS institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development at Western Sydney University. She has authored over 30 academic publications and co-authored a book entitled My Life As A Playlist (2014).