The reason for the melody of the song haunts the listener

The characteristics of variation in tempo and pitch are what makes a melody easy to remember and haunt the listener.

The team from England and Germany concluded the specific characteristics of a melody, including changes in rhythm and pitch , which caused the "earworm" phenomenon , the Guardian on the 3rd. / 11 reported. This is a phenomenon when the melody of a song continuously appears in the listener's mind.

The change in rhythm and pitch is what causes the song to haunt the listener.(Photo: Rex).

The research team from Durham University, England collected the names of obsessive songs from 3,000 online surveyors on the topic. The final result is a list of 1,558 catchy melodies that have appeared in the British music charts, except for the bells, nursery rhymes and classic works. In which there are more than 400 songs selected by many people.

The most mentioned song is "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga with 33 people choosing. Her other two famous songs, "Alejandro" and "Poker Face" are also in the top 9. The research group found the song more popular, the more people choose to have an obsessive melody.

Further analysis shows that the characteristics of the song are also important. Research results show that obsessive songs often have a general pattern in the "up" and "down" of pitch . Songs with unusual characteristics such as great changes in altitude also become more haunting.

"I think this may be related to the choice of the brain to find the most suitable melody. It wants a pretty simple, memorable but a little more melody. Our research shows that On the melody of the song, you can predict which song will continuously repeat in the listener's mind, which helps musicians and advertisers write melodies that people will remember for days and months. after that, " researcher Kelly Jakubowski explained.