Do you remember the first time you really clicked with music? I remember being on a family vacation at 9 or 10, getting some sort of random Beatles “Hits” cassette tape at whatever gas station, and playing it nonstop in my off-brand Walkman. That was the first time I really felt music in my bones, and to this day few things are as exciting as finding a new song to love.
I have 2 music Ed degrees! An aesthetic response is essentially an emotional connection. The idea is that a person’s brain reacts to parts of music (dynamic, timbre, tempo, melody, etc.) in a way that generates that emotional response.