Great book about music's scientific effect on the brain

[Castronova]

I just got this today and I'm only into the first chapter, but so far it's amazing and one of the most interesting things I've read on music in a long time:


This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
by Daniel J. Levitin


The author dropped out of college to play in bands and eventually became a successful music engineer, then became curious why music does what it does to us, and now focuses on scientific experiments on the human brain reacting to music. He has a real talent for explaining things in a common ground that non-musicians can understand without boring established musicians. In the intro and first chapter he's already put things I've been trying to explain to people for years into simple sentences. The rest of the book seems to be answers to about 100 questions you've either always wanted to know, or haven't thought about yet... like "how the fck can anybody listen to [insert artist you hate]," or "Why do people stop experimenting with new kinds of music when they reach middle age?" (I hope this never happens to me!)


Part of the back says:

Levitin reveals
- how composers exploit the way our brains make sense of the world
- why we emotionally attach to music we listen to as teenagers
- why 10,000 hours of practice -- not talent -- make virtuosos
- how insidious jingles get stuck in our heads

[jaylun]

Interesting stuff.
I recently have been reading another book which is called Musicofilia by Oliver Sacks
http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tale ... 1400040817

Written by a neurologist it explains the neurologic effect of music on the brain.

[sorgenkind]

I warmly recomend This Is Your Brain On Music
this book really gave me some insight on music perception I'd propably never thought of by myself. And despite being a scientific book it's written in a very nice way, so that even non-scientists can understand it.

[sorgenkind]

thanks jaylun for the link
ordering the book now

[be~~]

("this is your brain on music")

i read this a few months ago, really good book to learn about sound and how we as humans understand it. i would highly recommend it to anyone that is involved in music and sound creation from beginner to expert.

it really helped me to understand harmonics and space of sound.

[Del]

I just got this today and I'm only into the first chapter, but so far it's amazing and one of the most interesting things I've read on music in a long time:


This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
by Daniel J. Levitin


The author dropped out of college to play in bands and eventually became a successful music engineer, then became curious why music does what it does to us, and now focuses on scientific experiments on the human brain reacting to music. He has a real talent for explaining things in a common ground that non-musicians can understand without boring established musicians. In the intro and first chapter he's already put things I've been trying to explain to people for years into simple sentences. The rest of the book seems to be answers to about 100 questions you've either always wanted to know, or haven't thought about yet... like "how the fck can anybody listen to [insert artist you hate]," or "Why do people stop experimenting with new kinds of music when they reach middle age?" (I hope this never happens to me!)


Part of the back says:

Levitin reveals
- how composers exploit the way our brains make sense of the world
- why we emotionally attach to music we listen to as teenagers
- why 10,000 hours of practice -- not talent -- make virtuosos
- how insidious jingles get stuck in our heads

...Thanks for the tip. Just ordered it from Amazon.co.uk

[inesb]

Thnx for recommending the book.

I read Levitin some time ago
(his research about music perception and production in Williams Syndrome)
Didn't know much about the guy then.
But now, based on this recommendation, i searched his CV...
He seems an amazing guy...

oh no, the more i read about him,
the more envious i get, or should i get inspired?
[i'm at his lab page now... ]

Definitively, a must read....