By Fletch Whipp

Just a few days ago, I had an earworm….big time! No no, I’m not talking about some malicious bug gnawing away on my earlobe…. We ALL have them after all. Nope, not talking about a personal hygiene issue, and earworm is the term given to that situation where a part of a song plays, and replays in your head, regardless of whether you just heard it that day, or some time prior.

Yes, I see you nodding your head now.

My particular EarWorm was ‘Super Trouper’ by 70′s disco sensations, ABBA….. That’s right ABBA, Even hard rockers like me have a ‘lighter’ side

When I workout at my gym, I like to switch off and listen to Andrew W.K ‘Party Party party’ or Joe Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ or other workout worthy tune. Sometimes those songs remain long after the workout has ended. Even late into the same evening.

Got a tune that won't stop playing in your head?

Writer Carl Nierenberg shares the following information. A new British study in the journal Psychology of Music has tried to understand their origins. They looked at how earworms, which psychologists call ‘involuntary musical imagery’, get started in the first place. Researchers collected data from 604 people who completed an online survey. After analyzing the responses, they identified four main triggers for earworms. The most common one was music exposure, either recently hearing a tune or repeatedly hearing it. A second reason was memory triggers, meaning that seeing a particular person or word, hearing a specific beat, or being in a certain situation reminds you of a song.

The third reason for earworms your emotional frame of mind, or “affective states.”  Feeling stressed, surprised or happy when you hear a song may make it stick in your head. And a fourth cause was “low attention states.”  A wandering mind, whether from daydreaming or dreams at night, can set off this involuntary musical imagery.

“I was initially surprised by the sheer number of idiosyncrasies within the earworm surveys — the number of different tunes people heard and the number of unique circumstances where earworms popped up,” says study author, Victoria Williamson, a music psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London. But it makes sense, she says, since “these spontaneous mental tunes appear to be a typical everyday consequence of the way that our brains process music.“ And these “sticky songs” can be a tune you hear often or a brand new one. “Earworms are likely to be as individual as we are in both our musical tastes and music listening habits,” explains Williamson.

Don't worry, earworms are easily treated... if you need help! (pic courtesy of ReSurge International)

Asked what to do when you get one, Williamson says she’ll be trying to find out how people control them in her next research project.” But in the meantime, she offers up this advice: “I find that occupying my mind with a task helps — reading a book, doing a puzzle or talking to a friend.”

For years I’ve studied various formulas in music whether that is hard rock, pop, jazz, blues, reggae or other genre, each has specific qualities, that sometimes overlap as to how they work so well. I’d like to think that RockStarzUSA.com offers world-class earworm training We know what makes songs catchy….. While we can’t guarantee you success with your songs, we can steer you on the right track in how to best achieve earworms.

Ask your teacher about the elements of songwriting today. You’ll discover a mathematical world hidden within music just waiting to be unlocked that generates ‘appealing’ or ‘catchy’ songs! -Fletch Whipp