Thus, given that human calls developed as symbolic communicators of emotion and feelings, it is more than likely that melody – particularly instinctive vocal discharges of notes linked in relation to one another -preceded language (as Charles Darwin speculated) in symbolically conveying states of mind and emotions. Coupled with human rhythmic drives, the phenomenon of extended vocal incantations as pre-language – in essence, the human being’s first language – could be why it is often thought that humans are genetically pre-programmed to process music as symbolic communication of human emotional experiences. (Mc Adams et al 1999) As evolution progressed, vocalizations became extended and amplified through various instruments, such as bone or hollow reed flutes, animal horns, and other vibration-producing wind and percussion instruments, precisely imitating and expanding on human calls.
Just as some of the most fundamental principles of physics derive from concepts of periodicity, so do some of the most fundamental principles of cerebral information-processing, including the Gestalt laws and the fear spiral, derive from the human brains affinity for tracking and linking pitches in search of meanings that could make the difference between safety and danger. Deacon (1997) argues that, millennia before speech evolved to its present state, and before the neocortex evolved to its current size, the uniquely human form of social communication, and the symbolic expression of feelings and needs, took the form of extended vocalizations. Yet, however strange this may seem, of all animals, humans are the most limited in their repertoire of vocal "calls." As Deacon points out, two of the basic human calls are laughter, which involves a rhythmic exhalation of breath and vocal sound, and sobbing, a rhythmic inhalation of breath and sound. He conjectures that perhaps these two calls are two sides of one coin.
Melody, as an element of music, undoubtedly is the symbolic extension of these calls- laughter being encoded in music as an expression of joy, and sobbing being reflected in music as an analogue for sorrow. For example, the musicologists among our readers will note that analyses of the liturgical works of S. Bach are found to contain melodic and rhythmic patterns that are deliberately repetitive, composed precisely to simulate the rhythmic breathing and intoning of sobs and moans that lament the sorrow of the crucifixion. Or, as in some of Bach’s other works, similar patterns represent the despair of sinners, human misery, or contemplation of death, depending on the text or nature of the work (Marshall 1989).
