Team Wasson Music: The Heart Song Project

Steve Makofka

The Heart Song Project is the best name I have at the moment to describe the research I am doing in the area of music preferences.  The purpose of the  study is to determine why we like the music that we like.

There are two aspects of my research that set it apart from the other research that I have read.  Most of the research on music preferences attempt to match or correlate music styles to personality styles.  The problem with this approach is that while we may have preferences for certain styles of music, the real emotional connection is not with styles of music, but with individual songs or works of music.  You may prefer to listen to classical music, but the thing that gives you chills or goosebumps is Handel's Messiah.  You may prefer to listen to melancholy 70s music, but the song that reaches deep into your heart is Karen Carpenter singing "Bless the Beasts and the Children.  These selections that have the most emotional impact are what I call "heart songs."

The second distinctive aspect of my work is that while most studies on music preferences use young people as test subjects, I have done my research with senior adults.  The problem is that music preferences as still in formation during adolescence.  Heart songs are still being developed.  Young people may like one style of music now and then outgrow it, replacing with another style as they reach maturity.  If you have dealt with older people you know that their music preferences are not in flux.  They are stable.  They haven't changed in years and are not likely to change in the near future.  I believe this stability of preferences gives a better indication of how these preferences were formed.

The main point of my work so far has been in the areas of memory recovery and legacy creation.  I have had senior adults tell me that they don't remember much about their childhood and certainly don't remember the music.  However, once I start asking questions from the "Life Soundtrack Worksheet" they start to remember people, places, events, and the songs associated with them.  These songs, learned in childhood and buried deep in the memory, have excellent potential for being heart songs.

The desire to assist with legacy creation has come out of my own life experiences.  When I was growing up, my father played his accordion almost every night.  A few years ago I had the opportunity to take him into a studio and just let him play.  In music performer lingo, he "tore it up."  He delivered an ifuneral incredible performance, one that he would be unable to duplicate today.  In my pastoral work, I have held discussions with the relatives of the deceased while we did planned the funeral. Family members did their best to remember what songs the person enjoyed that could be played at the memorial.  In legacy creation, I help senior adults identify the songs and performers that are most significant to them.  I have them write down the stories associated with the songs, and then I encourage them to share both the song and the story with family members.  When they tell the story and play the song for younger generations they create a legacy.  And when they are gone, the younger generation can play that song, remember the story and feel close to their departed loved one again.