The article mentioned three variables that forms a happy song: A tempo that deviates a little from popular songs, in a major key, and a bit more than a three chord song. Neuroscientist Jacob Jacoli figured out the formula by studying hundreds of songs over a period of 50 years. His experience of the study from behind the scene was thoroughly described on his site. Using some chords progression and tempo alterations he created four clips, two in a major key (C G Am F, I-V-vi-IV progression), and two in a minor (Am Am Em Bm), each at 118 BPM and 148 BPM, with a 4-to-the-floor beat under them
Jacoli replicate the study in a Dutch sample with a continuous rating, and came to the conclusion that the top song was “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra or ELO (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQUlA8Hcv4s).
This is the formula that Jacoli came up for the feel good song regression formula, or as he call it “Feel Good Formula”:
Rating = 60 + (0.00165 * BPM – 120)^2 + (4.376 * Major) + 0.78 * nChords – (Major * nChords)
Where BPM is beats per minute (tempo), Major is 1 if the song is in a major key and 0 is the song is in a minor key, and nChords is the number of chords in the song (including modulations etc.) The formula basically says we generally like songs with a tempo that deviates from the average pop song tempo, that are in a major key, and are a bit more complex than 3 chord songs, UNLESS the song is in a major key (Jacoli, 2015) .
If you’ve seen the Guardian’s of the Galaxy 2 movie, the song is in the infamous Baby Groot’s dance scene (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Si0DjxK98Q). Director James Gunn almost didn’t have the rights to use ELO’s song because he cut a scene with ELO’s song on the first sequel (Daniel, 2017) , but it’s good that he did. So enjoy it and be happy.
References
Daniel, M. (2017, August 12). How ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ created Baby Groot’s 'Mr. Blue Sky' dance number. Retrieved from Toronto Sun: http://www.torontosun.com/2017/05/08/how-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-created-baby-groots-mr-blue-sky-dance-number?channelColor=entertainment
Jacoli, J. (2015, September 20). The Feel Good Song Formula. Retrieved from Belief, Perception and Cognition: http://www.jolij.com/?p=362
Larbi, M. (2016, September 23). Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen is officially the world’s happiest song, according to science. Retrieved from Metro: http://metro.co.uk/2016/09/23/dont-stop-me-now-by-queen-is-officially-the-worlds-happiest-song-according-to-science-6146872/
