根据相似性理论，音乐的表达特点与人类表达行为具有相似性。辨识音乐作品的表达特点就是要认识音乐与表达行为之间的相似性。例如，慢节奏音乐往往产生悲伤感，这起码由部分原因在于悲伤的人语速缓慢。表达行为的某些形式存在于各种文化中。当某些音乐的作者和听者来自于同一种文化，听者就更善于辨识出那音乐的表达特点。与作者来自同一文化使得听者具有优势，这部分原因也许在于语言之间较少差异。有时，音乐表达的特点与一种文化的嗓音表达相似，而不同文化之间的嗓音表达差异极大。

According to the resemblance theory, music owes its expressive character to its resemblance to human expressive behaviour. Discerning the expressive character of a work of music is a matter recognizing the resemblance between the music and expressive behaviour. For example, slow music is often experienced as sad and this is at least part since the speech of sad people is slow. Certain forms of expressive behaviour are found in many cultures. Consequently one would predict that members of one culture are able to discern the expressive character of music produced by members of other cultures. There is considerable empirical evidence that this is so. When listeners and makers of some music come from the same culture, the listeners are good at discerning the expressive character of the music. When the listeners and music makers come from different cultures, the listeners are not quite as good as in-group members at discerning the music's expressive character, but they are still quite good at making this determination. Part of the advantage enjoyed by listeners who belong to the music makers' culture is probably attributable to differences between languages. Sometimes the expressive character of music is attributable to its resemblance to a culture's vocal expression. This sort of expression varies dramatically from culture to culture.