A good chorus takes milliseconds to get stuck in your head… and weeks to get out. In light of our recent ‘Catchy Tunes’ trivia competition, we thought we’d look into the science behind catchy songs and why we can’t seem to get them out of our head.
Is everyone susceptible to a catchy tune?
90% of us get a catchy song, or earworm, stuck in our head on a regular basis, so it’s a very common phenomenon. In saying that, the level of catchiness and the songs that get stuck in your head depend on your personality traits, your mood, your stress levels and certain memories or places associated with songs. So what’s catchy to me at a certain time may not always be catchy to you. But we must say, we think most people would perceive a song like “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga as catchy.
So what musical traits make a catchy tune?
Let’s take Bad Romance for example – what is it about this song that is so catchy? It’s been voted one of the catchiest songs of all time on multiple websites and surveys. Does this song have anything in common with other catchy tunes? Well, researchers found that earworms do have some similar features and these have been summarised into four main traits.
- Longer and more detailed musical phrases. The longer a vocal breath, the more likely we are to sing along.
- Higher number of pitches in the chorus hook. The more sounds there are, the more infectious a song becomes.
- Male vocalists. Apparently, we are more inclined to follow male-fronted songs.
- Higher male voices with notable vocal effort. This indicates high energy and purpose, particularly when combined with a smaller vocal range (e.g. Jon Bon Jovi).
“The overall conclusion is that the song has to be quite simple in order to be recalled spontaneously, but also have something a bit unique that makes the brain want to rehearse it over and over,” said Kelly Jakubowski, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Music at Durham University in the U.K.
How do I get catchy tunes of my head?
Jakubowski offered tips for how to get rid of an earworm:
• Engage with the song. Many people report that actually listening to the earworm song all the way through can help to eliminate having it stuck on a loop.
• Distract yourself by thinking of or listening to a different song.
• Try not to think about it and let it fade away naturally on its own.
We’re not sure this will help, but it’s worth a try…
In case you’re curious, these are the top 10 catchiest tunes of all time, according to CNet.
- Spice Girls – Wannabe
- Lou Bega – Mambo No 5
- Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
- Lady Gaga – Just Dance
- ABBA – SOS
- Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman
- Michael Jackson – Beat It
- Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
- The Human League – Don’t You Want Me
- Aerosmith – I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
