This is your brain on music: understanding a human obsession

507 Pages·2016·1.97 MB·English

by  Levitin D.J.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC
Daniel Levitin runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception,
Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University, where he holds the
James McGill Chair in Psychology. Before becoming a
neuroscientist, he was a session musician, sound engineer and
record producer. He has written extensively for scientific journals
and music trade magazines. He lives in Montreal, Canada.
To hear the music featured in this book visit
www.yourbrainonmusic.com.
‘A dissection of music perception and creation that inexorably
builds to a grand finish. Despite illuminating a lot of what goes on
with music this book doesn’t “spoil” enjoyment – it only deepens
the beautiful mystery that is music.’ David Byrne, Talking Heads
‘A marvellous overview, and one which only a deeply musical
neuroscientist could give. Daniel Levitin has a huge knowledge of
music developed since the 1950s (and of blues and jazz before
this), and not merely a formal but a deeply personal knowledge as
an expert performer no less than a listener . . . An important book.’
Oliver Sacks
‘Fascinating . . . Levitin’s extremely skilled at laying out complex
concepts in understandable terms . . . An absorbing explanation of
the mechanics of why music affects us the way it does.’ Jonathan
O’Brien, Sunday Business Post
‘You might think that even the basic mechanics of music are
beyond you, but Levitin will calmly guide you through all you need
to know before explaining the cognitive processes our brains
undergo when the music begins.’ Stephen Pritchard, Observer
‘Daniel Levitin is patently a music fan with a vast jukebox of
references. So, as he charts the functions with which we filter
sounds, Levitin illustrates how music beats at the very heart of our
evolution. He does it in such a way as to open your ears afresh to
familiar tunes and, by linking his book to
www.yourbrainonmusic.com, he helps you discover new ones.’
Keith Watson, Metro
‘Consistently interesting . . . Music, Levitin argues, is not a
decadent modern diversion but something of fundamental
importance to the history of human development . . . fuelling the
belief that a careful study of man’s relationship with music might
one day unlock the door to some bigger, greater mystery about our
human species.’ Alexander Waugh, Literary Review
‘A fascinating guide to musical neuroscience.’ Observer Music
Monthly
‘A layperson’s guide to the emerging neuroscience of music. Dr.
Levitin is an unusually deft interpreter, full of striking scientific
trivia.’ New York Times
‘Both impressively scholarly and readily accessible to lay readers.
This Is Your Brain On Music segues deftly from a crash course in
pitch, timbre, tempo, melody, and other music characteristics to
the electrochemical processes of the brain and the elucidation of
such topics as ‘ear worms’, those insipid jingles and pop songs
that get infuriatingly stuck in our heads. A compelling read even for
those of us for whom neuroscience remains as baffling as, well,
brain surgery.’ Boston Globe
‘Levitin is a deft and patient explainer of the basics for the non-
scientist as well as the non-musician . . . Aimed squarely at the
general reader, This Is Your Brain On Music successfully unravels
some of that long chain of neural events without getting tangled up
in it . . . Levitin helps quantify some of music’s magic without
breaking its spell.’ Los Angeles Times
‘Daniel Levitin’s wonderful new book explains why music is a
critical step in human evolution and why the songs we loved as
teens remain stuck on ‘play’ in our heads . . . This Is Your Brain On
Music is delightful.’ Salon
‘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
without losing an affectionate appreciation for the songs he’s
reducing to neural impulses . . . 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.’Publishers Weekly
‘Artful and elegant. Simultaneously scientist, music professional
and seductively graceful writer, Levitin gets to the very crux of the
truth-is-beauty equation that the mystery of music represents. No
other book comes close.’ Sandy Pearlman, Record Producer
(Clash, Blue Oyster Cult), Manager (Black Sabbath)
‘Levitin’s lucid explanation of why music is important to us is
essential reading for creative musicians and scholars. I’ve been
waiting for years for a book like this.’ Jon Appleton, Composer and
Professor of Music, Dartmouth College and Stanford University
‘This volume is a beautiful integration of art and science applied to
understanding music. Scientific readers will appreciate the effort
to explore the neural networks that underlie musical processing,
the mental operations involved and the links to genes and
evolution written in a fashion that is both informative and a
pleasure to read.’ Michael I. Posner, Professor Emeritus,
University of Oregon
THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON
~ MUSIC ~
Understanding a Human Obsession
Daniel Levitin
First published in the United States of America in 2006 by Dutton,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First published in hardback in Great Britain in 2007 by Atlantic
Books, an imprint of Grove Atlantic Ltd.
This paperback edition published in Great Britain in 2008 by
Atlantic Books.
Copyright © Daniel Levitin 2006
The moral right of Daniel Levitin to be identified as the author of
this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner
and the above publisher of this book.
Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright-
holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any
omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the
earliest opportunity.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
ISBN 978 1 84354 716 7
eBook ISBN: 978 0 85789 514 1
Printed in Great Britain
Atlantic Books
An imprint of Grove Atlantic Ltd
Ormond House
26–27 Boswell Street
London WC1N 3JZ
www.atlantic-books.co.uk
CONTENTS
Introduction
I Love Music and I Love Science—Why Would
I Want to Mix the Two?
1. What Is Music?
From Pitch to Timbre
2. Foot Tapping
Discerning Rhythm, Loudness, and
Harmony
3. Behind the Curtain
Music and the Mind Machine
4. Anticipation
What We Expect from Liszt (and
Ludacris)
5. You Know My Name, Look Up the Number
How We Categorize Music
6. After Dessert, Crick Was Still Four Seats Away
from Me
Music, Emotion, and the Reptilian
Brain
7. What Makes a Musician?
Expertise Dissected
8. My Favorite Things
Why Do We Like the Music We Like?
9. The Music Instinct
Evolution’s #1 Hit
Appendices
Bibliographic Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Introduction
I Love Music and I Love Science—Why
Would I Want to Mix the Two?
I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are
terrified of the subject or feel that choosing science means
you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed
by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to
reinvent and reinvigorate it.
—Robert Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, p. xii
I
n the summer of 1969, when I was eleven, I bought
a stereo system at the local hi-fi shop. It cost all of
the hundred dollars I had earned weeding neighbors’
gardens that spring at seventy-five cents an hour. I
spent long afternoons in my room, listening to
records: Cream, the Rolling Stones, Chicago, Simon
and Garfunkel, Bizet, Tchaikovsky, George
Shearing, and the saxophonist Boots Randolph. I
didn’t listen particularly loud, at least not compared
to my college days when I actually set my
loudspeakers on fire by cranking up the volume too