On page 60 of this book the author writes "On Paula Abdul's Straight Up there is so much going on, it is difficult to describe it in words" Yet, he spends the rest of the page doing just that . It's a tactic Levitin uses throughout the book, and it just doesn't work. You simply can not appreciate a song by reading about it. Music is something that must be heard to be enjoyed. Levitin raises some interesting arguments and I believe that as a lecture, with audio, this might be a interesting presentation. As a book, it just doesn't cut it. ( )

Pop Science, meet Pop Music. Pop Music, Pop Science.
It’s fun to hear how precisely specialists deploy concepts like pitch, timbre and rhythm in trying to explain how music works, and how intricately laboratory experiments can simulate/stimulate brain activity, but the brain is not the mind, and even (or especially) cognitive neuroscientists won't crack the ineffability of music. The chapter on the origins of music shows just how speculative and tentative the science is. What would Junior Kimbrough say?

Libro ben scritto, curato (ottima anche l'edizione Codice) e competente. In realtà l'autore non si limita ad affrontare la musica dal punto di vista di quel che accade nel cervello ascoltandola (e qui riesce bene nell'opera anche se a tratti risulta un po' noioso), ma giunge a comporre una delle più accessibili introduzioni ad alcuni concetti musicali ostici ai più (mi riferisco alle trattazioni di pitch, timbro, ritmo, intensità e armonia). Inoltre contiene moltissimi esempi musicali che, se già non li si conosce, viene voglia di andarsi ad ascoltare. ( )

Fine book, wonderfully educational about what music is and who we are as people. I'd seen good reviews of the book, and the subject areas certainly intrigue me, but I'd put off reading it because of the inane title. My mistake! Please, if this seems like an interesting book, then give it a try. Dumb title, great book. ( )

Yet another book I picked up on an Audible sale. I really do get exposed to a lot of things I might not read otherwise because I can’t resist thinking I’m getting a bargain. :-)

From the author’s perspective I may be the ideal reader this book, “an exploration of the relationship between music and the mind”. In my youth I played piano and clarinet, studied some music theory, and minored in music history as an undergraduate. I am married to a cognitive psychologist, which has resulted in my absorbing a certain amount of information about how the brain works (by osmosis - and from grading Intro Psych quizzes). So I have some background in both sides of the music/brain equation.

Would this book appeal to other lay readers, the author’s stated target audience? If they had a background in music OR cognition and a genuine interest in how they fit together, probably. If they had no music training and knew nothing about cognitive psychology, I think they would need a deep desire to know more to make this a rewarding read. Although Leviton explains the basic elements of music in detail, I imagine I would have found it challenging to absorb it all with no previous background. Add in the descriptions of the functionality of the different areas of the brain, and it’s a lot of academic information to digest.

In other words, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did if it was ALL new to me and I had only a passing interest in the topic. At times it lagged a bit. Levitin is very careful to give credit to all of the composers, performers and scientists he references in the book, which is commendable, but it does slow down the reading. And I could have done without his gratuitous name-dropping. I’m happy for him that he had Francis Crick’s endorsement to pursue one line of his research, but spending half a chapter setting up the circumstances of their meeting was, for me, a waste of my listening time.

Which brings me to something else. I definitely recommend listening to this rather than reading it in print. In the opening sections on music especially, he illustrates some of his points by playing a chord or tapping out a rhythm, helpful to cement concepts that will arise later in the book.

It was interesting to learn the brain functions that cause us to bond most closely to the music we enjoyed in our teens or as young adults, or why some chords and chord progressions are inherently pleasing and others are more challenging. And why we are less likely to enjoy music styles that are new to us as we age.

I listen to less music now than I did years ago, largely because I spend more time with audiobooks. When I do listen, it’s typically to music I’m familiar with, whether it’s my 60’s-70’s playlist, or the trio in the last act of Der Rosenkavalier, which never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

And now I know why. ( )