ImpressionsDesign

Hello everyone, I just joined up here, posted my introduction mere moments ago. I stumbled on this forum on my epic quest to try and grasp why people like music, or at the very least, why certain music appeals to me.

My background, and how I approach the question of 'understanding' music:

I am a Graphic Designer, but unlike most designers, I approach my profession from a purely technical standpoint. Basically, I am not all that creative. But with design, there are fundamentals that allow me to execute effective designs. This leads me to believe that music has it's own set of fundamentals, and that (hopefully) somewhere here on MusicBanter, there is a musician who works from a technical standpoint and can explain it to a robot.

The general consensus from musicians that I know personally is that music is simply magic that cannot be explained with anything but feelings and emotion. This is where conversation breaks down usually. I have the emotional capacity of cardboard, and as such, have trouble comprehending feelings as the answer.

Here's why: If someone were to look at a design and tell me the feeling it gives them, I can probably tell them why. Be it the combination of colors, the way the eye travels on the page, how the shapes are arranged, whatever the case is, there is generally a fundamental at work. Some designers execute principles without knowing, we just call it "the eye" like music has people with an "ear" for it.

To simplify the question: If I hear a piece of music and understand it as "Epic" in sensation, does Music Theory tell me why?

Thanks for taking the time to hear me out. I apologize in advance if you use musical terms and I miss them, I am not a musician, I can't even say I was a fan until a couple of years ago. This sleep impacting obsession of mine is fairly new.