{"id":250451,"date":"2018-07-29T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/?p=250451"},"modified":"2018-07-28T21:06:44","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T19:06:44","slug":"8-fun-facts-about-the-mysterious-earworm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/inspire\/8-fun-facts-about-the-mysterious-earworm\/","title":{"rendered":"8 fun facts about the mysterious earworm"},"content":{"rendered":"

That tune you just can’t get rid of for hours or days.\u00a0That song that slowly gets on your nerves and clings to your brain.\u00a0At first somewhat amusing, but after its ninety-sixth return, you wish you could just strangle it.\u00a0For those of you who\u2019ve been haunted by endless loops of “Despacito” or “Shape of You” to name but a few, here are some fun facts about catchy tunes aka earworms…\u00a0??<\/strong>#ThePowerOfMusic<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. There is no earworm formula<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you could define exactly how an earworm works, you would probably be rich by now.\u00a0Ultimately, you would reveal the secret of writing a major hit.\u00a0Of course it doesn’t work that way.\u00a0Although there are studies by various scientists, which mention special intervals, the reduction of the essentials and much more. These are just theories that only limit the phenomenon in a superficial way and can be difficult for us musicians to grasp.<\/p>\n

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    1. Musical minimalism<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The curious thing about earworms: it’s usually simple melodies that get us going.\u00a0According to the cognitive musicologist Dr.\u00a0John Ashley Burgoyne from the University of Amsterdam, the simplest melody – and only the melody! – is crucial for the birth of a catchy earworm.\u00a0It is easy to understand that pop music is more likely to be an earworm as opposed to complex jazz pieces.<\/p>\n

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      1. Homage to the complexity of the brain<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Interestingly enough, some of the catchiest classics are nursery rhymes and children tv series or movie themes.\u00a0Children’s music is easy to understand and virtually barrier-free for the brain.\u00a0Who doesn’t know the legendary “Mahna Mahna” by the Muppets or Postman Pat’s theme song?\u00a0You’d recognize them instantly!<\/p>\n

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        1. The unfinished sticks in the head<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Once the earworm’s present, it doesn’t go away as fast.\u00a0This is due to the so-called Zeigarnik effect, named after the Russian psychologist Bljuma Wulfowna Zeigarnik.\u00a0The theory is that one remembers interrupted, unfinished tasks and unfinished thoughts better than completed tasks.\u00a0Usually one remembers but a short fragment of the song.\u00a0In our brain, the song is not complete, resulting in an annoying continuous loop.<\/p>\n

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          1. From the never-ending party to the never-ending earworm<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            In most cases we associate the earworm with a certain situation, an experience, or an emotion.\u00a0And when those feelings come back in any context, so does the earworm.\u00a0For example, the memory of the last party of your holiday:\u00a0Intoxicating substances in your system;\u00a0best party ever…\u00a0Now back from holiday at the next party, the memories come streaming back, and you find yourself back in El Arenal.<\/p>\n

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            1. Don’t worry, you’re not alone<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              It is interesting that the earworm can often be recalled by several people at the same time.\u00a0This is logical, since it’s usually linked to a specific situation or memory i.e. when you party together with others, you share a common memory that can be activated again and again.\u00a0Imagine that you get on the tube and mutter an automated “Mahna Mahna”. As soon as you know it there’ll be at least ten others muttering “Ba Dee Bedebe” next to you.\u00a0Congratulations.<\/p>\n

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              1. And how do I get rid of this thing?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                One way is to chew gum and deliberately fool ourselves. Chewing gum suggests to the brain that we are humming something in front of us and influences the acoustic short-term memory.\u00a0Actively bid farewell to earworms!<\/p>\n

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                1. Thinking helps<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  It is also ideal if you give the brain something to think about.\u00a0A puzzle, an interesting topic.\u00a0Earworms are especially noticeable when the brain has little to do, such as monotonous work or relaxed driving.\u00a0So feed your thinking apparatus – if possible not too light or too heavy food \u2013 and create a mental reset.<\/p>\n

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                  What are some of your most annoying earworms and how do you get rid of them?\u00a0Let us know in the comments!\u00a0?\u270d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                  An earworm: that catchy tune that haunts you for hours to days on end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":249491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tblog_post_audio_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10706,10676,10720],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertain","category-inspire","category-learn"],"category_colors":{"color_key":"entertain","css_classes":{"text":"cat-entertain","text_light":"cat-entertain-light","bg":"cat-bg-entertain","bg_light":"cat-bg-entertain-light","border":"cat-border-entertain","text_on_bg":"cat-text-on-entertain"}},"reading_time":{"minutes":3,"formatted":"3 min"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}