There’s a world of difference between a horror movie and a comedy -- the former scares you half to death while the latter leaves you rolling on the floor laughingly. But try watching them without the background music and you just might decide they’re not so different after all. Music and movies have been closely connected since the beginning of the film industry--even before the voices of actors were recorded. In movies, music helps to provide a sense of time and place, express ideas about the characters and, most importantly, draw emotions out of the audience.

Studies have long shown that our heart rates and anxiety levels rise and fall depending on the speed of the music we hear. Using this knowledge, composers use sudden changes in film music speed to create fear among audiences. Slowing the speed of the music will have the opposite effect, bringing about a sense of peace or a dreamlike quality. The use of dissonant tones and noises is another technique that heightens tension. Humans naturally become anxious when we hear dissonant sounds because such noises are usually combined with danger, like those that animals make to warn against predators(捕食者).

As important as it is, the best film music is subtle. All that audiences are supposed to feel is a heightened sense of emotion--they shouldn’t realize what’s causing it. Only when the music is taken out of the film should audiences understand its effects.

In keeping with this principle, some filmmakers are even using what’s called “infrasound”(次声波) to cause fear. While we may not be able to hear it because its frequency(频率) is below the range of the human ear, infrasound has been proven to cause anxiety, tremble and even sorrow. For example, infrasound was used in the soundtrack of the 2007 horror movie Paranormal Activity, and audiences were at extremely high fear levels despite the lack of action throughout the movie. “It doesn’t affect everyone equally,” said British science writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct, but he predicted that “we will see more of it used in movies in the future.”

There’s a world of difference between a horror movie and a comedy—the former scares you half to death while the latter leaves you rolling on the floor with laughter. But try watching them without the background music and you just might decide they’re not so different after all. Music and movies have been closely connected since the beginning of the film industry—even before the voices of actors were recorded. In movies, music helps to provide a sense of time and place, convey ideas about the characters and, most importantly, draw emotions out of the audience.

Studies have long shown that our heart rates and anxiety levels rise and fall depending on the speed of the music we hear. Using this knowledge, composers use sudden changes in film music speed to create fear among audiences. Slowing the speed of the music will have the opposite effect, bringing about a sense of peace or a dreamlike quality. The use of dissonant(不和谐的) tones and noises is another technique that heightens tension. Humans naturally become unnerved when we hear dissonant sounds because such noises are usually associated with danger, like those that animals make to warn against predators(捕食者).

As crucial as it is, the best film music is subtle. All that audiences are supposed to feel is a heightened sense of emotion—they shouldn’t realize what’s causing it. Only when the music is taken out of the film should audiences understand its effects.

In keeping with this principle, some filmmakers are even using what’s called “infrasound”(次声波) to arouse fear. While we may not be able to hear it because its frequency is below the range of the human ear, infrasound has been proven to cause anxiety, tremble and even sorrow. For example, infrasound was used in the soundtrack of the 2007 horror movie Paranormal Activity, and audiences reposed extremely high fear levels despite the 1ack of action throughout the movie. “It doesn’t affect everyone equally,” said British science writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct, but he predicted that “we will see more of it used in movies in the future”.

Music is an art that almost everyone enjoys. Everyone can make sounds by singing，banging a stick, plucking(弹) a tight string or blowing through pipe. All over the world, many kinds of music have developed as people find out how to make sounds in different ways. There are so many kinds of music to hear that you can soon find a kind that you like.

People can get all kinds of feelings hearing music. Music can make you march of dance; it can make you feel happy or sad. More than other arts, music can affect your moods and feelings. This is why music is so popular.

Every country has its own kind of music. In France many people like dance music played on the accordion(手风琴), and many Americans enjoy banjo(班卓琴) music. Spain is famous for its guitar music, and India for the twanging sound of the sitar.

Many people like music in their own national style. But there are also people who enjoy classical music and pop music, which have spread throughout the world with the help of the record player and radio.

However, there are still great differences between the music of the west and that of the east. Many of the instruments are very different. The guitar and the sitar are both instruments in which strings are plucked by fingers, but they two not sound alike.

The musical differences between the east and the west are not only in the instruments, but also in ways the notes are put together.