When music conveys movement and why?

I think I understand, but I am asking you, if you can, to explain better what you mean by "conveys movement". Said like that, it remains a bit too vague...

it is a huge question that has always accompanied aesthetic reflection on music.

Anyway, there are various reasons and various "models" of explanation, also because there are different types of movement that music transmits, expresses, insinuates, or copies. Certainly, the famous mirror neurons play an important role, a "relatively" recent discovery. Mirror neurons abstract information from an external stimulus and communicate it to other neurons which, in turn, transform it into actions. That is to say, someone has hiccups and I get hiccups. This action seems to be unconscious. Mirror neurons should also be involved in the phenomenon known as "Entrainment," that is, dragging, that reaction we have when perceiving a constant rhythm or movement. In short, tapping the time with your fingers when listening to a rhythmic musical piece. The term entrainment does not describe the reasons for this phenomenon (which is very complex and varied in its facets), but when talking about music that communicates movement, in that case, the "fault" probably lies with our perceptual system

When Michael Jackson does it

Open content (youtube)

Interesting discourse, but shouldn't music convey movement in itself, or am I wrong? It doesn't move anything... take my words with a grain of salt.

Tall music has rhythm, but not all of it conveys movement or rather, perhaps with the same force as, for example, Chromaticism....

I share this. I believe that the sensation of movement is personal, exactly like "this piece moves me". The other night I was listening to Sagra and it felt natural for me to move but, as stated, it was just for me. I strongly doubt that there are objective criteria that can establish when a human reacts with movement to a sound stimulus.

Personal opinion

Dino wrote:

Interesting discourse, but shouldn't music inherently convey movement, or am I wrong? It doesn't move anything... take my words with a grain of salt.

Tall music has rhythm, but not all of it conveys movement or rather, perhaps with the same force as, for example, Chromaticism....

Lately, there is an attempt not to dismiss discussions on "musical expressivity." That is, even when talking about sentimental music, or heroic music, or relaxing music, or whatever, one always tries to understand why a majority of people attribute those specific characteristics or implications. Methodologically, it is very difficult to approach the discussion without stumbling into argumentative errors. As you and Micamahler say, we are not talking about precise, shared, or intrinsic characteristics. But as far as movement is concerned, the issue is more complicated.

When I listen to music, I process a series of meanings. These meanings can be the result of different processes. The most common process is the metaphorical one (let's define it as such), which is the processing of an abstract sense, often sentimental and often very simple. Something like "this music communicates sadness to me." This type of sense/meaning is probably the result of a complex "social" learning process, often involuntary, whereby a Thai person will consider melodies sad that leave us indifferent, and vice versa.

The entrainment I was talking about before, on the other hand, should be a less metaphorical and more physiological reaction. My neurons catch a constant rhythm and, for evolutionary reasons that are still largely unknown, my body reacts by "adjusting" to that rhythm, letting itself be carried along. Rhythmic and temporal structures influence THE BODY, and they influence it so much that for those who play or sing, it is very difficult to rebel. Going out of time "consciously" is very difficult, just as it is very difficult to stay calm while there is rhythmic music on the radio or to dance obsessively to music that is not very rhythmic.

To complicate the problem, however, there is the fact that movement can ALSO be metaphorical. Chordal movements often are; many musical forms imply metaphors of movement: forward-directed movement, circular movements, "journeys," bridges, descents, and ascents :-)