The game theory of music

Why do we like some music and not others?

I learned a lot about this question in the fun read This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin.

One of the parts I found particularly fascinating was an analogy between music and games in terms of complexity/enjoyment:

To many adults, Raffi and Barney the Dinosaur are the musical equivalents of tic-tac-toe. When music is too predictable, the outcome too certain, and the “move” from one note or chord to the next contains no element of surprise, we find the music unchallenging and simplistic. As the music is playing … your brain is thinking ahead to what the different possibilities for the next note are, where the music is going, its trajectory, its intended direction, and its ultimate end point. The composer has to lull us into a state of trust and security; we have to allow him to take us on a harmonic journey; he has to give us enough little rewards–completions of expectations–that we feel a sense of order and a sense of place. (p. 236)

In this light, a composer is a strategist that has to manage surprises. Too small a surprise and the music becomes too predictable and not enjoyable. Similarly, too big a surprise and the music is jarring and also not enjoyable.

(It reminds me of the way the Federal Reserve manages interest rates. The Fed has to surprise investors and the market to be effective, but it cannot make too big a change at once or the market will overreact. A while back I highlighted the Fed playing this game of suspense.)