ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY HUMANIST GALAXY OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS DANIEL LEVITIN April 23, 2021 THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin. Dutton, 2006 (i-vi, 314 pages) BOOK OUTLINE note = Numbers in parentheses refer to pages note = "The book explores the connection between music, including its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it — and the human brain. This book takes on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin poses that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language." (Paraphrased by webmaster from the publisher's blurb) note = "Think of a song that resonates deep down in your being. Now imagine sitting down with someone who was there when the song was recorded and can tell you how that series of sounds was committed to tape, and who can also explain why that particular combination of rhythms, timbres and pitches has lodged in your memory, making your pulse race and your heart swell every time you hear it. Remarkably, Levitin does all this and more. He interrogates the basic nature of hearing and of music." (From Publisher's Weekly editorial comment) INTRODUCTION: I LOVE MUSIC AND I LOVE SCIENCE --- Why would I want to mix the two? (1-12) 1) WHAT IS MUSIC? --- From pitch to timbre (13-55) 2) FOOT TAPPING --- Discerning rhythm, loudness, and harmony (57-82) 3) BEHIND THE CURTAIN --- Music and the mind machine (83-110) 4) ANTICIPATION --- What we expect from Liszt and Ludacris (111-131) note = p116 note = p117 note = p118 5) YOU KNOW MY NAME, LOOK UP THE NUMBER --- How we categorize music (133-167) 6) AFTER DESSERT, CRICK WAS STILL FOUR SEATS AWAY FROM ME --- Music, emotion, and the reptilian brain (169-192) 7) WHAT MAKES A MUSICIAN? --- Expertise dissected (193-221) 8) MY FAVORITE THINGS --- Why do we like the music we like? (223-246) 9) THE MUSIC INSTINCT --- Evolution's #1 hit (247-267) APPENDICES (269-276) Appendix A --- This is your brain on music (269-271) Appendix B --- Chords and harmony (273-276) BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES (277-306) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (307-308) INDEX (309-322) AUTHOR NOTES, SUMMARY, AND BOOK DESCRIPTION AUTHOR NOTES = Daniel J. Levitin studied electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and music at the Berkley College of Music before dropping out of college to become a record producer and professional musician. He returned to school in his thirties, where he studied cognitive psychology/cognitive science, receiving a B.A. from Stanford University in 1992 and a M.Sc. in 1993 and a Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Oregon. Levitin is a cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, and author. He runs the Levitin Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University. He has published extensively in scientific journals and music trade magazines such as Grammy and Billboard. SUMMARY = The book explores the relationship between the mind and music by drawing on recent findings in the fields of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology to discuss such topics as the sources of musical tastes and the brain's responses to music. This book is a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist that will attract readers of Oliver Sacks and David Byrne. It is an unprecedented, eye-opening investigation into an obsession at the heart of human nature. BOOK DESCRIPTION = In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist, Daniel J. Levitin, explores the connection between music — its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it — and the human brain. This book takes on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin poses that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language. Drawing on the latest research and on musical examples ranging from Mozart to Duke Ellington to Van Halen, he reveals: [1] How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world. [2] Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre. [3] That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise. [4] How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our head. EDITORIAL BOOK REVIEWS LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW = In this exploration of the brain-music relationship, musician and neuroscientist Levitin, who heads the Levitin Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University, begins by defining and explaining musical terms. Lay readers can take these chapters as reference material; musicians and scientists will grasp the apparatus of organized sound, hearing, and brain function, structured in detail with examples ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to the Beatles. Following that material is an explanation of how music arouses and plays with expectations, creates tension and resolution, and provides insights into brain structure and function. Levitin concludes with three delightful chapters: "What Makes a Musician?" (10,000 hours of practice), "My Favorite Things" (why we like what we like), and "The Music Instinct," in which he argues — against experimental psychologist Steven Pinker — that music plays a role in evolution (singers and dancers are perceived as being more attractive as mates). In Levitin's study, current brain research becomes comprehensible through music — a wonderful accomplishment. Along with Anthony Storr's Music and the Mind and Kathleen Marie Higgins's The Music of Our Lives, this book extends the appreciation of music as neural training. Essential for most libraries. – E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. School of Medicine, Washington, DC. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW = Think of a song that resonates deep down in your being. Now imagine sitting down with someone who was there when the song was recorded and can tell you how that series of sounds was committed to tape, and who can also explain why that particular combination of rhythms, timbres and pitches has lodged in your memory, making your pulse race and your heart swell every time you hear it. Remarkably, Levitin does all this and more, interrogating the basic nature of hearing and of music making (this is likely the only book whose jacket sports blurbs from both Oliver Sacks and Stevie Wonder), without losing an affectionate appreciation for the songs he is reducing to neural impulses. Levitin is the ideal guide to this material: he enjoyed a successful career as a rock musician and studio producer before turning to cognitive neuroscience, earning a Ph.D. and becoming a top researcher into how our brains interpret music. Though the book starts off a little dryly (the first chapter is a crash course in music theory), Levitin's snappy prose and relaxed style quickly win one over and will leave readers thinking about the contents of their iPods in an entirely new way. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW = Adult/High School --- Levitin's fascination with the mystery of music and the study of why it affects us so deeply is at the heart of this book. In a real sense, the author is a "rock 'n' roll doctor," and in that guise dissects our relationship with music. He points out that bone flutes are among the oldest of human artifacts to have been found and takes readers on a tour of our bio-history. In this textbook for those who don't like textbooks, he discusses neurobiology, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, empirical philosophy, Gestalt psychology, memory theory, categorization theory, neurochemistry, and exemplar theory in relation to music theory and history in a manner that will draw in teens. A wonderful introduction to the science of one of the arts that make us human. – Will Marston, Berkeley Public Library, CA BOOK LIST REVIEW = How the brain processes all aspects of music is the subject of this book rooted in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and the evolution of the brain. Levitin starts with how the ear perceives sound vibrations — signals are processed in the brain's audio cortex — and proceeds to the perception of frequencies, scales, and timbre, coupled with rhythm and tempo, exploring them within cultural context. Music triggers emotional responses, which, in interaction with the perceptions, are transmitted throughout the brain, eliciting responses colored by the personal likes and dislikes that have developed as the brain has grown. Levitin, first a musician and recording producer, is now a neuroscientist teaching the psychology of electronic communications at McGill University, and he draws many examples of how the brain receives and processes various inputs, including visual and aural, from art and classical and popular music. His book introduces the inner workings of the brain insofar as scientists understand it and affords a good first look at the subject for armchair psychologists and neuroscientists. – Alan Hirsch. REMEMBER ALWAYS: You Are Your Adaptable Memory! Click or Tap to Return to Humanist Hub RETURN TO THE HUMANIST HUB OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS ALPHABETICAL BRAIN VOCABULARY produced by Infinite Interactive Ideas™