Why Tension and Release is So Important in Music!
1. Expectation 😱
Playing and listening to music is an inherently emotional experience and the emotions that are being conveyed is determined by many factors. One moment the music may be quiet and the next, it might be loud. Another section may be using low pitched notes and then it might change to a higher pitched section.
Each of these elements provides us with a series of expectations and assumptions about the music that mean that even non-musicians will naturally and subconsciously anticipate what is going to happen next. It is this expectation (our met/unmet expectation and anticipation) that makes music feel so satisfying when our expectations are finally met!
This is a very similar concept to the idea of “delayed gratification”. Delayed gratification is the act of delaying an immediate reward in favour of a larger reward later. This idea is very heavily featured in music and is often seen in the form of manipulating this natural anticipation that we feel and building tension in order to create a satisfaction when the tension is released.
2. Where to Look 👀
There are many ways that tension is created in order to build anticipation of a release, however one of the most common ways to do this is using something called a “dominant 7th”. A dominant 7th is a very tense chord type because (for many reasons that I won’t get into here) it always feel like it needs to return to chord 1 afterwards.
The dominant 7th simply means chord 5 in the scale with a 7th on top of it. So in the key of C major (C D E F G A B) we can form a dominant 7th by building a chord on note 5 of the scale (G B D) and then adding a 7th as well (F). So the dominant 7th in the key of C major is G7 (G B D F). If you find this chord type in a piece of music it will generally feel like it needs to return to chord 1 (C chord - C E G). There are many pieces that will hold off on this resolution and really drag out the dominant 7th to build tension so that when the music finally does land on chord 1 it is even more satisfying!
Another way in which music can build tension is by using pitch. There are many times when musical ideas are repeated at a higher pitch or the music is generally ascending. Taking something familiar about the music and Increasing the pitch of that idea will build tension, and descending again will release that tension. Although less prescriptive than dominant 7ths, it’s important to recognise how pitch is building tension when you come across it!
Another example of building tension and releasing tension is by using dissonance. There are many examples (particularly in film music) where chords that are more dissonant create a real tension in the music. Using regular chords after this sounds much less stressful and therefore releases the tension! It can almost feel like light coming through the clouds.
Tension can also be created using texture. This is much more dependant on what you have heard so far within a piece of music, but it is the change in texture that causes tension. If a piece of music starts with just a single, lonely melody, then as that changes and develops into something much thicker in texture, we can feel a tension as the music changes into something less familiar. As it returns back to that single melody that we recognise that can release the tension.
3. Leaning In 🫳
So what is the point? There are lots of ways of creating tension and releasing it, why is that so important?
Well, recognising how music is making us feel and why it is making us feel that way means that you can exaggerate and lean into the tension, making it much more satisfying when it finally gets released. If you come across a dominant 7th, this chord type can be played with a touch more emphasis so that when you hear chord 1 afterwards it really does release that built tension. Similarly, if a piece of music is rising in pitch, we can exaggerate that build in tension so that a listener is able to more easily identify the feeling you are trying to convey.
As a player it’s easy to forget that listeners don’t know what you know. They don’t understand the notes or what they mean, they only understand music as an emotional experience. As a musician it is our job to identify what exactly it is in the music that feels tense and when/why it is being released so that we can translate and exaggerate that into the highly emotional experience that hopefully a listener will have.
Matthew Cawood
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