Music Moves: Why Does Music Make You Move?

Learn about why and how music makes you move.

Music is movement—a bold statement that we will explore together in this free online course.

Together we will study music through different types of body motion. This includes everything from sound-producing keyboard actions to energetic dance moves.

You will learn about the theoretical foundations of embodied music cognition and why the body is crucial for how we experience the emotional moods in music. We will also explore different research methods, including advanced motion capture systems and sound analysis methods.

You will be guided by a group of music researchers from the University of Oslo, with musical examples from four professional musicians. The course is rich in high-quality text, images, video, audio and interactive elements.

Join us to learn more about terms such as entrainment and musical metaphors and why it is challenging to sit still when you experience a good groove.

This course is open to everyone. No technical knowledge of music or dance is required.

No specific tools necessary.

This course is open to everyone. No technical knowledge of music or dance is required.

• Reflect on the importance of the human body in the experience of music
• Classify different types of music-related body movements
• Collect information about music-related body movements
• Describe different types of research methods used to study music-related body movements
• Explain how the body entrains to musical rhythms