Exploring Emotions Through Music: Jacob Collier’s Journey with Londonderry Air

Summary

In this article, we explore how musician Jacob Collier transformed the familiar tune of Londonderry Air or Danny Boy, through a variety of emotions of increasing complexity. He analyzed the emotions musically and described how he made his decisions, creating a complex exploration of emotions and tonalities.

Table of Contents

• Tier One Emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Mysteriousness, Triumph, and Serenity
• Tier Two Emotions: Fright, Confusion, Peace, Flirtation, and Betrayal

Tier One Emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Mysteriousness, Triumph, and Serenity

Jacob Collier was challenged to transition seamlessly from one emotion to the next without stopping playing the tune. He attempted to describe six tier one emotions and analyzed them musically. With happiness, he used lots of triads and major chords, which tend to feel more consonant, positive, and comfortable. In contrast, with minor chords, things often feel less consonant, a little colder, sadder, and more austere. With anger, he played very loudly and low on the piano, and used dissonant notes that were not particularly within triads as in happiness and sadness. To transition from anger to mysteriousness, he used the whole-tone scale, which creates a sense of transparent wonder, mystique, and strangeness. When he descended into being triumphant, the triads returned, creating a big open sound that felt almost like a national anthem. Finally, when he got to F major, he was very serene.

Tier Two Emotions: Fright, Confusion, Peace, Flirtation, and Betrayal

In the second tier of emotions, the speaker describes feelings of fright, confusion, and finally peace in different tonalities. The transition from fright to flirtation is challenging to describe musically, but the speaker plays with the melody and rhythm to create a sense of levity. The feeling of betrayal is delicate to describe, as too much consonance or dissonance feels wrong. The speaker finds a balance between absence and presence to create a cyclical and comforting feeling.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Jacob Collier’s exploration of emotions through music is a fascinating journey. He demonstrates how music can convey complex emotions and tonalities, and how a skilled musician can use these elements to create a rich and layered musical experience. Through his intuitive musical process, he shows how music can be a powerful tool for emotional expression and communication.