Have you ever started crying listening to music and you didn’t know why? That happens to me sometimes when I hear opera (which is not often ). Something about the music and powerful singing moves me deeply…and I don’t even understand the words!

Frisson is the term for it – a “sudden feeling or sensation of excitement, emotion or thrill”. There is actually a frisson playlist on Spotify – with 715 songs curated by neuroscientists that are most likely to give you the feels. Listen to the female background vocals in Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones for a popular example of frisson.

The ability of music to move us in the depth of our being is weird and magical. The physical side of music and sound is pretty well understood – but how we get from vibrations in our ear to the emotional impact of music is more mysterious.

I experience frisson in nature a lot – like on a great hike in the mountains. Some of my best “frisson” moments have been in worship – where music stirs my encounter with God to create spiritual frisson!

Thank you God for frisson.

Toodling and Noodling, Stan