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  • Neil: Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute

  • English. I'm Neil.

  • Rob: And I'm Rob.

  • Neil: Rob, do you like metal?

  • Rob: Er, that's an odd question. I've never

  • really thought about it. I mean, I use metal

  • things every day - my toaster, my bike,

  • the underground...

  • Neil: No, no - not that kind of metal,

  • this kind of metal.

  • [Death metal music]

  • Rob: Oh, that kind of metal.

  • The musical genre, the type of music...

  • Neil: Yes, and in particular, death metal.

  • Rob: That fast, loud, aggressive sounding,

  • guitar-based music style?

  • Neil: Yep, that's the one.

  • Rob: Nope. Not my cup of tea at all.

  • What kind of person do you think I am?

  • Neil: Well, that's the point. The type of

  • person who likes death metal may not be

  • the kind of person you think they are.

  • More on that shortly, but first,

  • a quiz. The electric

  • guitar is an essential element

  • to death metal music. In which decade

  • were the first electric

  • guitars produced? Was it: a) the 1920s,

  • b) the 1930s, or c) the 1940s?

  • Rob: I think quite early, so

  • I'm going to say the 1920s.

  • Neil: Well, we'll see if you're right later

  • in the programme. Does violent music

  • give people violent thoughts?

  • Recent research claims to have found

  • the answer. This is how the

  • topic was introduced on BBC News.

  • What was the conclusion?

  • BBC News Presenter: A psychological

  • study of fans of death metal

  • suggests that they are not

  • desensitised to violence despite

  • the genre's association with

  • growling, often graphically

  • violent lyrics including depictions

  • of cannibalism. Researchers found

  • that the main response of fans

  • to the music they love was joy,

  • not violence. Adding that most

  • are very nice people who

  • wouldn't dream of hurting anyone,

  • let alone eating them.

  • Neil: So what conclusion did

  • the researchers come to?

  • Rob: Well, they found that the response

  • to the music was joy,

  • not anger or violence.

  • It made people happy.

  • Neil: There was a fear that listening

  • to music with violent lyrics,

  • which means violent words,

  • would make people

  • desensitised to violence.

  • Rob: If you are desensitised to something,

  • you don't see it as unusual

  • or unacceptable,

  • it doesn't bother you.

  • Neil: The newsreader also said that

  • the lyrics of death metal include

  • topics such as cannibalism,

  • which is the practice of eating

  • human flesh. Listening to someone

  • singing about eating

  • people apparently didn't make them feel

  • like snacking on their neighbours.

  • Let's hear the introduction again.

  • BBC News Presenter: A psychological

  • study of fans of death metal

  • suggests that they are not

  • desensitised to violence despite

  • the genre's association

  • with growling, often graphically

  • violent lyrics including depictions

  • of cannibalism. Researchers found

  • that the main response of fans to

  • the music they love was joy, not violence.

  • Adding that most are

  • very nice people who

  • wouldn't dream of hurting anyone,

  • let alone eating them.

  • Neil: Professor Bill Thompson from

  • Macquarie University in Sydney

  • conducted this research.

  • What does he say people don't feel

  • when listening to this kind of music?

  • Professor Bill Thompson: Most fans

  • are not angry. Most are actually

  • musically trained people

  • who really get a lot of empowerment

  • and aesthetic interest out of

  • the music. They feel joyful.

  • They feel transcendent they

  • feel empowered. But what they

  • don't feel is angry.

  • Neil: What don't people feel?

  • Rob: They don't feel angry!

  • What they do feel is joyful,

  • the adjective from joy. They feel

  • happy. Something else they feel

  • is empowered. This is a feeling of

  • being in control of your life,

  • that you can make and follow

  • your own decisions.

  • Neil: Music is certainly a powerful

  • art form. Professor Thompson

  • also said that fans have

  • an aesthetic interest in it. This means

  • that they appreciate it as an art form.

  • Let's hear Professor Thompson again.

  • Professor Bill Thompson: Most fans

  • are not angry. Most are actually

  • musically trained people

  • who really get a lot of empowerment

  • and aesthetic interest out

  • of the music. They feel joyful,

  • they feel transcendent, they feel

  • empowered. But what they

  • don't feel is angry.

  • Neil: Time to review our vocabulary,

  • but first, let's have the answer

  • to the quiz question.

  • In which decade were the first

  • electric guitars produced? Was it:

  • a) the 1920s; b) the 1930s; c) the 1940s.

  • What did you think, Rob?

  • Rob: I took a guess at the 1920s.

  • Neil: Well electric guitars were early, but

  • not quite that early, I'm afraid. The first

  • ones were produced in the 1930s.

  • So well done if, unlike Rob,

  • you got that correct.

  • Now, onto the vocabulary.

  • Rob: Yes, we had a few words

  • connected with music. We had genre

  • for a style of music and

  • also lyrics for the words of a song.

  • Neil: Some of the lyrics of

  • death metal songs are about eating

  • people, which is called cannibalism.

  • Rob: Cannibalism is a form of

  • extreme violence and there was some

  • concern that people exposed

  • to such violent lyrics in songs

  • might become desensitised

  • to actual violence.

  • Neil: This means that they would accept

  • violence as normal and not be

  • worried by it. However, the research

  • showed that this doesn't happen

  • and fans actually feel joy, which is

  • another way of saying happiness.

  • Rob: The research also suggested

  • that fans have an artistic appreciation

  • of death metal,

  • described as an aesthetic interest.

  • Neil: The final word was for a feeling

  • that fans might get after listening

  • to the music, empowered.

  • Rob: Someone who is empowered

  • is in control of their

  • own life and decisions.

  • Neil: And I feel empowered to bring

  • this edition of 6 Minute English

  • to a close. We look forward

  • to your company next time. Until then,

  • you can find us in all

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  • that's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

  • and YouTube. And there's

  • our website, and

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  • which you can find in the app stores.

  • You'll be able to listen to

  • 6 Minute English on the move.

  • You just walk and we talk.

  • Just search for bbclearninglish.

  • Bye for now.

  • Rob: Goodbye!

Neil: Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute

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