Review by Bob Hart, Rosebank PR & Communications
If you’re anything like me, music will have an important place in your life.
But if you stop and think about it for a moment it’s a strange thing.
What is it about these sounds and rhythms that fascinate us so much? Why do particular instruments or voices grab our attention in the way they do? Why does music affect our emotions in the way that it does?
These questions and more are investigated by Daniel Levitin in ‘This is Your Brain on Music’, a book that explores the psychology behind music and our fascination with it as a species.
A former record producer turned neuroscientist, Levitin uses the book to break down what music is, and then investigate how it impacts us both personally and culturally.
You don’t have to be a music expert to understand the concepts. The opening section provides a crash course in music terminology - neatly defining terms such as pitch, timbre and tempo - while remaining interesting and engaging.
From there, it goes on the journey into what music does to our brains and why.
For instance, you’ll learn that different parts of the brain are engaged when listening to music and playing it - but both involve the emotion-processing amygdala.
You’ll discover that if you like to listen loud enough to make the room vibrate, that will cause different neurons to fire and provide another dimension to the emotional impact of the music.
And you’ll learn about the evolutionary origins of music, why the vast majority of us respond to it the way we do, and its role in our development as a species.
It’s a fascinating journey, largely because it’s something that’s so easy to take for granted.
Music is everywhere - of course in the songs we choose to play, but also in the background in shops and restaurants, as emotional cues in films, TV and advertising, as entertainment as we drive - so it’s fascinating to learn more about something that is simultaneously so familiar but also filled with hidden complexity.
The added pleasure of the book is listening to the musical examples as you read. As well as understanding why you like some familiar songs (it’s all about the drumming in Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’, while guitar tuning is central to what makes Joni Mitchell’s ‘Chelsea Morning’ so engaging), it’s also hard to resist listening to music you’ve never heard before as you read.
The book has prompted me to explore artists and genres I wouldn’t normally listen to; it’s been enjoyable to experience the building of suspense in Haydn’s ‘Surprise Symphony’ or the use of tritones in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story.
It’s also been an opportunity to revisit things that I’d previously found unlistenable. For example, Steely Dan’s songs always grated on me, but I can now see (or rather hear) where they’re coming from because I understand more about what’s going on in the music.
So whether you’re interested in music, or the brain and mind, or both, you’ll find something here to get you thinking. You’re almost certain to find something new to listen to as well.
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