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This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession Paperback – Illustrated, August 28, 2007
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Taking 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:
• How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world
• Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre
• That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise
• How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our head
A Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist, This Is Your Brain on Music will attract readers of Oliver Sacks and David Byrne, as it is an unprecedented, eye-opening investigation into an obsession at the heart of human nature.
- Print length322 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPlume/Penguin
- Publication dateAugust 28, 2007
- Dimensions5.25 x 0.75 x 7.95 inches
- ISBN-100452288525
- ISBN-13978-0452288522
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“I loved reading that listening to music coordinates more disparate parts of the brain than almost anything else - and playing music uses even more! Despite illuminating a lot of what goes on, this book doesn't 'spoil' enjoyment—it only deepens the beautiful mystery that is music.”—David Byrne, founder of Talking Heads and author of How Music Works
“Levitin is a deft and patient explainer of the basics for the non-scientist as well as the non-musician....By tracing music's deep ties to memory, Levitin helps quantify some of music's magic without breaking its spell.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review“Why human beings make and enjoy music is, in Levitin's telling, a delicious story.”—Salon.com
“Dr. Levitin is an unusually deft interpreter full of striking scientific trivia.”—The New York Times
“Every musician, at whatever level of skill, should read this book.”—Howie Klein, former president, Sire and Reprise/Warner Brothers Records
“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, inventor of the Synclavier synthesizer
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Plume/Penguin; Reprint edition (August 28, 2007)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 322 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0452288525
- ISBN-13 : 978-0452288522
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.75 x 7.95 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #8,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Daniel J. Levitin is Founding Dean of Minerva University in California. He is also the James McGill Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Neuroscience and Music at McGill University, Montreal. "This Is Your Brain on Music" , "The World in Six Songs", "The Organized Mind" "A Field Guide to Lies" (republished in paperback as "Weaponized Lies") and "Successful Aging" were all #1 best-sellers, and have been translated into 28 languages. Before becoming a neuroscientist, he worked as a session musician, sound engineer, and record producer, contributing to records by Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, and Blue Oyster Cult. He has published extensively in scientific journals as well as music magazines such as Grammy and Billboard. Recent musical performances include playing guitar and saxophone with Sting, Bobby McFerrin, Rosanne Cash, David Byrne, Renée Fleming, Victor Wooten, and Rodney Crowell.
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Customers find the book easy to understand and engaging. They appreciate the clever insights into music theory and how it impacts the brain. Readers appreciate the information about brain research and how to mentally apply the concepts to their experiences. The book is organized into nine chapters with an introduction, two appendices, and a conclusion. Customers appreciate the high-level research and scientific credentials of the author. They also mention that the emotional content is intense and makes you notice more a secondary aspect of your life.
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Customers find the book interesting and easy to read. They appreciate the author's clear exposition and the author's passion for the subject. The stories are interesting and well-written.
"...I feel this book is a fantastic addition to the literature world because it introduces us to the science of something that makes us human." Read more
"...to well-known artists and songs, I feel that this book offers valuable and interesting insights that even someone who isn't obsessed with music and..." Read more
"...This chapter, potentially one of the most interesting in the book, examines how music, once used in mating calls as a tool for survival, has evolved..." Read more
"...The author is an expert, but acknowledges the limits of such expertise, not confusing the map for the territory...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's music theory. They find it insightful and interesting, with clear explanations of how music works and impacts the brain. The author's definition is eclectic, using examples from Bach to Led Zeppelin. Readers appreciate the thorough exploration of the topic, written in an accessible way.
"...The final segment of the book brings an evolutionary perspective to music and explains how it has held importance in mate selection throughout..." Read more
"...Is Your Brain On Music" is a stimulating look into the way the brain processes music, from the anatomical structures that play a role in hearing and..." Read more
"...chapter, potentially one of the most interesting in the book, examines how music, once used in mating calls as a tool for survival, has evolved into..." Read more
"...Highly recommended for musicians and music lovers." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's information about brain research and its impact on the brain. They appreciate the author's passion for sound and how it affects the brain. The book combines music and neuroscience at an easy-to-understand level, making it possible for readers to apply concepts to their experiences. It goes from the basics to advanced concepts in a gentle way. Readers also mention that the book provides good exposure to current hypotheses about how music impacts the brain.
"...He brings many different viewpoints due to his experience as not only a musician in a rock band, but his time as a sound engineer and doctor as well...." Read more
"...one major function in music processing actually performs another extremely important function, perhaps the most intriguing function in the brain's..." Read more
"...infuses these chapters with personal anecdotes and different scientific and psychological studies. Introduction:..." Read more
"...The book explains the complexity of the neural connections and the systems involved in our perception and understanding of musical sounds which..." Read more
Customers find the book entertaining and easy to read. They find it exciting, enlightening, and awakening.
""Endlessly Stimulating," sez Oliver Sacks on the cover blurb. He's right. Anyone who's gone from "I like that song" to "Why do I like that song?"..." Read more
"...job of presenting a lot of highly technical information in an engaging, humorous, and easy to understand way." Read more
"...and technical information presented here, but it's done in an entertaining and highly accesible manner...." Read more
"This book is exciting, enlightening and awakening...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's organization. They find it complex, with useful information and suggestions for organizing personal routines. The book is organized into nine chapters with an introduction, two appendices, and an end. The conclusions encourage diverse extrapolations with other subjects, and the language, examples, and range of simple descriptions are appreciated.
"...It also touches on many theories, including memory theory, categorization theory, and exemplar theory...." Read more
"...Book Organization The book is organized into nine chapters with an introduction, two appendices, and an index...." Read more
"...If it has any weakness, it is that he does not try to organize and categorize as much as he could have, but he WILL keep you reading!" Read more
"...The language, the examples, the ranges of simple description to complicated extrapolation, it is all nourishing...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's scientific accuracy. They find the author's high-level research in layman's terms, with his musical and scientific credentials to back up his theories. The book provides factual data behind his opinions, making it a good confirmation source and a perfect marriage of art and science.
"...allows us to see Levitin’s opinions but his research and factual data behind those opinions...." Read more
"...I stay with 3 stars since some original research is presented here...." Read more
"...The problem is that the book is a science book, but it uses the music to develop it...so it is quite a small group of people that will read it to..." Read more
"...is a unique individual in that he has both the musical and scientific credentials to back up his theories of musical cognition and musical psychology..." Read more
Customers find the book's emotional content intense and inspiring. They say it helps them identify music and the emotional responses it stirs.
"...science of music and how it causes the brain to react, from emotions to musical expertise...." Read more
"...function in the brain's processing of music: the generation of an emotional response to music...." Read more
"...deal with rhythm, processing music, anticipation, categorization, musical emotion, and musical instincts...." Read more
"...It's intense and makes you notice more a "secondary" aspect of your life, even if you are a professional musician*. *..." Read more
Customers have different views on the book's interest. Some find it interesting and thought-provoking, reiterating lessons from the past. Others feel it's not engaging to read, with uninteresting digressions and too much for one evening's reading.
"...The book was especially good in drawing people in who may not want to read a textbook on this material but would enjoy learning about it from a rock..." Read more
"I found it a little difficult to get through this book, though perhaps much of that is because the subject is a bit too dry to be the basis for a "..." Read more
"...He embeds in the reader a sense of wonder, and of amazement, at the magic that happens when you listen to music...." Read more
"...vast majority of us... the first two chapters are in my opinion, heavy to read (I had to go back several times to try and get the idea); actually,..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2013Daniel J. Levitin, Professor of Psychology at McGill University and bestselling author of “The World in Six Songs” brings to the table another best seller with “This is your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.” He brings many different viewpoints due to his experience as not only a musician in a rock band, but his time as a sound engineer and doctor as well. This book opens your mind to the science of music and how it causes the brain to react, from emotions to musical expertise. In my opinion it is a five star book because it not only allows us to see Levitin’s opinions but his research and factual data behind those opinions.
Levitin begins this book with a thorough explanation of the basic components of music, for example timbre (the rhythm and frequencies that distinguishes one instrument from another) and pitch (the frequency that determines the note in the musical scale). He then introduces you to the idea of rhythm and how one can recognize a song just by the first couple of notes if they have heard it before. The brain is the next important part of the book, and provides the details you need to know in order to connect music to the brain. Levitin then touches on the importance of the ear to music as well. Here he also touches on how composers, who know how people react to certain sounds, can create music that causes a specific response in their audience. “Composers use hundreds of subtle shadings of timbre and note length to convey the many different emotional shadings of human experience.” (Levitin, 92) He later brings up two theories on why we recognize and remember songs. The first, the theory of constructivism, believes one stores everything in the mind and recalls it when needed. The “tape-recording” theory, in contrast, believes the mind remembers snippets of a musical piece and fills in the gaps along the way. In the end, Levitin connects the two to form his own theory with parts from both. He introduces two important parts of the brain, the amygdala and cerebellum, when talking about how music connects to emotions and evolutionary survival. “Music may be the activity that prepared our pre-human ancestors for speech communication and for the very cognitive, representational flexibility necessary to become humans.” (Levitin, 260) Levitin believes that talent is not enough to be good at something and that training plays an important role as well (as in the case with nature vs. nurture). Towards the end of the book, he explains that we are emotionally attached to music we hear when we are young because it is our earliest and most profound exposure during a strong period of neuroplasticity in our growing brain. Society is also important because it determines the type of music we are exposed to and the attitude we feel towards this music. The final segment of the book brings an evolutionary perspective to music and explains how it has held importance in mate selection throughout history. In human mate selection, he showed how “the combination of the two [feelings and emotions] – as best exemplified in a love song – is the best courtship display of all.” (Levitin, 267)
Levitin’s book touches on many aspects of Neuroscience that I can relate to from my studies. Neuroplasticity, or growth, of dendritic spines, can happen when learning new material, for example a new song. Also, neurotransmitters are extremely important in causing responses in one’s brain. When listening to loud music your neurons would be firing in abundance causing an increase of neurotransmitters across the synaptic gap. This will lead to an increased post synaptic response. When it comes to music, two neurotransmitters are important in determining how you feel, dopamine and adrenaline. Dopamine is an excitatory effect in the pleasure center of the brain. Therefore it would make sense that it would be found in more abundance in the brain when you are listening to music you enjoy. On the other hand, when you hear music you do not like, you can blame this on the amygdala releasing adrenaline to stimulate the sympathetic system of your body (the fight response in the “fight or flight” system). The amygdala plays a part of emotion and memory. These are both important in musical enjoyment and recalling. The cerebellum on the other hand deals with the fear and pleasure responses and helps determine how you feel when listening to music. Lastly, two important parts of the brain are fundamental in music, Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area. The first has to do with processing language, or in this example understanding lyrics, while the second area has to deal with speech production, or being able to pronounce the lyrics.
I feel his book started off a little boring, since it focused on a detailed explanation of musical theory, which I myself knew a lot about. Therefore, I found the introduction slow; however, it did not stay that way. The book was especially good in drawing people in who may not want to read a textbook on this material but would enjoy learning about it from a rock artist-turned-doctor. This book touches on many major aspects of neuroscience, including neurobiology, neurochemistry, psychology (Gestalt and cognitive), and empirical philosophy. It also touches on many theories, including memory theory, categorization theory, and exemplar theory. It takes these fundamental ideas and relates them back to music in a way that will interest even the most non-science people that read it. I feel this book is a fantastic addition to the literature world because it introduces us to the science of something that makes us human.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2009Daniel Levitin's "This Is Your Brain On Music" is a stimulating look into the way the brain processes music, from the anatomical structures that play a role in hearing and identifying music to the emotional responses that music stirs. When I ran across this book, I was really excited to read it because it combines two of my favorite subjects: music and neuroscience. What could be better? This book definitely did not disappoint.
The first two chapters address the basic aspects of music, such as pitch, rhythm, tempo, contour, timbre, loudness, meter, key, melody, and harmony. As a musician, this chapter didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, and I feel that readers who are musicians can skim this chapter. The second chapter is a more in-depth look at rhythm, tempo, and meter, detailing how some beats are louder or more important than others and how notes are grouped rhythmically. The third chapter talks about the complexity of neural connections and circuits in the brain and how certain areas of the brain contribute to music processing. The fourth chapter discusses how our brains have musical expectations. When listening to certain chords in a musical work, we have an idea of what should come next. Composers who violate these expectations in just the right ways can create suspense and interest. The next couple of chapters talk about how we categorize music and how music creates an emotional experience for its listeners. Chapter seven addresses musical expertise and why some people go on to become expert musicians and others do not. Chapter eight discusses the reasoning behind our musical preferences and why we like the music we do. The book wraps up with an examination of the evolutionary basis and significance of music.
Music, Emotion, and...the Cerebellum?
One part of the book that I found to be really interesting was the discussion of music's remarkable ability to evoke an emotional response. Levitin explains that the cerebellum plays a crucial role in one of music's central aspects: timing. Our cerebellum helps us track the beat when listening to a piece of music. However, the cerebellum's work is not limited to musical timekeeping alone. Levitin's studies showed the cerebellum's involvement when people were asked to listen to music they like versus music they didn't like, or music that was familiar to them versus unfamiliar music. Initially, Levitin thought these results were generated by errors. However, after learning of the work of Harvard professor Jeremy Schmahmann, which showed that the cerebellum is involved in emotion and contains numerous connections to the brain's emotional centers, Levitin became extremely interested in pursuing the issue further.
Using a technique called functional and effective connectivity analysis, Levitin's laboratory was able to provide evidence showing that the rewarding aspects of music listening are partly mediated by the cerebellum's contribution to regulating emotion through its connections to the frontal lobe and the limbic system. "The story of your brain on music is the story of an exquisite orchestration of brain regions, involving...regions as far apart as the cerebellum in the back of the head and the frontal lobes just behind your eyes...When we love a piece of music, it reminds us of other music we have heard, and it activates memory traces of emotional times in our lives." It is truly amazing to see that a part of the brain that was thought to perform only one major function in music processing actually performs another extremely important function, perhaps the most intriguing function in the brain's processing of music: the generation of an emotional response to music. The fact that music has the ability to evoke an array of emotions in its listeners is what makes music so special to me. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the neurological basis for the emotions that music is so apt to conjure forth.
Music Preferences: Why We Enjoy the Music We Do
Why is it that I love The Eagles, but don't particularly enjoy listening to Johnny Cash? Why is it that my best friend can't get enough of country music, but hates alternative rock? These are the types of questions that I have often wondered about, and Levitin attempts to answer them in his book. One of the main questions I've been curious about is how and when music preferences are formed. For instance, if an expectant mother listens to classical music a majority of the time that she is pregnant, will her baby develop a strong preference for Mozart and Beethoven? It turns out that musical preferences are influenced, but not determined, by what we hear in the womb. Therefore, the baby referred to in the previous example may develop a liking for Mozart and Beethoven, but it may not.
Levitin goes on to talk about how researchers point to the teen years as the turning point of musical preferences. "Part of the reason we remember songs from our teenage years is because those years were times of self-discovery, and...were emotionally charged; in general, we tend to remember things that have an emotional component because our amygdala and neurotransmitters act in concert to 'tag' the memories as something important." Levitin also addresses other factors that influence our music preferences, such as our personality characteristics, the degree of complexity of the music, and our past experiences (whether positive or negative) with certain types of music. Although I probably could have thought of these factors that influence music preferences on my own, the book provides an explanation as to why and how these factors influence our musical tastes, which I found to be extremely enlightening.
Why You Should Read This Book
As a music lover who happens to also be interested in neuroscience, "This Is Your Brain On Music" was a fabulous read. However, with Levitin's easily accessible writing style and references to well-known artists and songs, I feel that this book offers valuable and interesting insights that even someone who isn't obsessed with music and neuroscience can enjoy and comprehend.
Top reviews from other countries
- H.D. McConnellReviewed in Canada on May 11, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book!
This book was recommended by my cousin. One of my grandsons who likes to write songs is thoroughly enjoying this book. I am also reading it and learning more and more.
Thank you.
-
Paola CorioReviewed in Brazil on August 29, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Livro Incrível!
Excelente obra! Leitura obrigatória a quem gosta de musica
- LucasReviewed in Spain on September 17, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars An open invitation for music lovers into their brain
This is the result of the sheer love of music, demonstrating the genius of the brain using the genius of his brain to shine a light to the genie in ours. If you love music and science, you cannot skip this.
- Franz MReviewed in Sweden on August 8, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfekt
Bra pris
- Biren DaiyaReviewed in India on June 7, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read.
A comprehensive explanation.