Why we really really really like repetition in music - General

[video]https://youtu.be/HzzmqUoQobc[/video] The site featured in the video: [url]https://colinmorris.github.io/SongSim/#/gallery[/url]

Doesn't quite explain the why, only confirms it.

Yeah doesn't explain the why at all. My guess is it has something to do with the brain getting satisfaction out of correctly predicting the next part of the song. The more repetitive it is, the easier it is to anticipate the next part. I'm not much of a psychologist though, so that's just speculation. Personally, I thought some of their examples were catchy, but also mostly uninteresting; repetition can be good, but I find music with that much a bit boring at best, and completley irritating at worst. A lot of my favourite music will use repetitive elements, like a bass line a melody or lyrics, but change elements each time to build interest. One good example of this is Roundabout by Yes (yes the meme song). It's an exciting and unpredictable roller-coaster of intensity, with a repeating motif that gets altered each time you hear it, before ending more or less where you started to bring you back to earth.

More like the reason I can't fucking stand pop music is the lyrics just repeat shit over and over again.

From what I learned about music theory, it's good to strike a balance between predictable and unpredictable elements. As mentioned, repeating a melody or entire parts of a song is predictable and "pleasant", while making parts of a song different can make it "surprising" (in a good way). This is mostly on a subconscious level AFAIK. I went in thinking that repetition = bad, but it turns out there's an actual function for intentionally making songs repetitious, even if some songs abuse that.

I dunno if this is strictly true. I think popular songs become popular because they're repetitive and easy to remember, but some of the best songs of all time, the ones we like the most, have very little structure. Like, three of the biggest bands in the world at their times, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead's best songs are arguably "A Day in the Life", "Stairway to Heaven", and "Paranoid Android", which all have no or minimal structure. So pop songs will always have super repetative structures, but the songs we enjoy the most don't have to have this at all.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRlJrkxsqo[/media] the best song ever

[QUOTE=Araknid;52780186][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRlJrkxsqo[/media] the best song ever[/QUOTE] You forgot this: [video=youtube;z48NmdWbquw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z48NmdWbquw[/video]

It doesn't explain much but i wasn't really aware of this field of study until now. inderdasting.

[video=youtube;lPKjlbXHP3E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPKjlbXHP3E[/video]

[QUOTE=Araknid;52780186][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRlJrkxsqo[/media] the best song ever[/QUOTE] Funnily enough, you'd think this would get tiring after like 20 seconds, but while the lyrics repeat, the instruments in the background change. Of course this doesn't keep it from being annoying in the long run, but it does display how you need to strike a balance between repetition and difference.

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;52780177]I dunno if this is strictly true. I think popular songs become popular because they're repetitive and easy to remember, but some of the best songs of all time, the ones we like the most, have very little structure. Like, three of the biggest bands in the world at their times, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead's best songs are arguably "A Day in the Life", "Stairway to Heaven", and "Paranoid Android", which all have no or minimal structure. So pop songs will always have super repetative structures, but the songs we enjoy the most don't have to have this at all.[/QUOTE] I don't know if it's that we don't enjoy repetitiveness because clearly pop songs and end are the most popular music, but I think songs that are unique will have a lasting enjoyment, where as pop music is forgotten after a couple weeks for the next pop hit.

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;52780177]I dunno if this is strictly true. I think popular songs become popular because they're repetitive and easy to remember, but some of the best songs of all time, the ones we like the most, have very little structure. Like, three of the biggest bands in the world at their times, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Radiohead's best songs are arguably "A Day in the Life", "Stairway to Heaven", and "Paranoid Android", which all have no or minimal structure. So pop songs will always have super repetative structures, but the songs we enjoy the most don't have to have this at all.[/QUOTE] Even if they don't have repetition strictly speaking, they have predictable elements. Looking at A Day in the Life you see structured transitions of blocks of the same chords and rhythms being repeated and mixed up. I think that with more complex songs like this we often need more than one listen to fully appreciate the music. Consider that the patterns heard are used in other songs too, and are predictable to an extent.

[QUOTE=Araknid;52780186][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRlJrkxsqo[/media] the best song ever[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;8_MgGyGAwsc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_MgGyGAwsc&feature=youtu.be&t=14[/video]

[video=youtube;ugp8a7B9izw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugp8a7B9izw[/video] The best case for repetition in music.

[QUOTE=Noob4life;52779773]Doesn't quite explain the why, only confirms it.[/QUOTE] Vox tends to do this a lot

[QUOTE=Araknid;52780186][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vRlJrkxsqo[/media] :thebest: song ever[/QUOTE] ftfy

repetitive music is great. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gexCGgVPCGI]this song[/url] is basically the same thing for 16 minutes straight and I could listen to it for hours

[video=youtube;zH4lkK-vSco]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH4lkK-vSco[/video] Repetition used as a motive to make subtle changes in instrumentation and sequences much greater in magnitude always blows my mind.

I've always hated repetition for the most part, barring a few exceptions because they're voice/and or overall sound are unique enough to keep me interested. I love Rihanna, but "Work" was quite possibly the worst shit I have ever heard, and yet it was a massive hit

I think repetition in lyrics is a reflection of rhythm. If you've ever heard a bass player or guitarist just jamming along, sometimes they hit that 'groove' when just strumming one or two notes at a steady tempo, it has a sort of hypnotic effect. I couldn't tell you 100% what makes that effect so hypnotic but it's definitely noticeable. But that effect extends to the structure of the song and the lyrics in it; when the hooks and catchy lines follow a pattern they create their own sort of steady rhythm. That's just my hypotenuse anyway.

I hate overly-repetitive music. It's too much like those awful dreams you get sometimes where your brain gets stuck and replays the same few seconds over and over.