This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession
- Downloads：9117
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-15 13:58:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Daniel J. Levitin
- ISBN：0241987350
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
This is the first book to offer a comprehensive explanation of how humans experience music and to unravel the mystery of our perennial love affair with it。 Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles， Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution， shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience。
Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature， even more fundamental to our species than language。 In This Is Your Brain On Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand it， and its role in human life
Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature， even more fundamental to our species than language。 In This Is Your Brain On Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand it， and its role in human life
Reviews
Atulmusic
，
I have read this book and found it interesting。 It takes me a little time to understand it a bit。 I am also a music lover and a guitarist and I learned it myself。 The song I learned recently is ginintuang tanawin chords - https://www。guitaa。com/chords/ginintu。。。 I have read this book and found it interesting。 It takes me a little time to understand it a bit。 I am also a music lover and a guitarist and I learned it myself。 The song I learned recently is ginintuang tanawin chords - https://www。guitaa。com/chords/ginintu。。。 。。。more
Ann
，
I've been dipping into this off and on over the last 8 or 8 months， really。 It was recommended last summer in an online course I attended。 Basically， it's a look at why we make music， how it affects us， why some have more 'talent' than others， etc。 as well as how different brain chemistry or genetics affects our ability to learn and/or appreciate various types of music as well as how music may affect the brain。 I've been dipping into this off and on over the last 8 or 8 months， really。 It was recommended last summer in an online course I attended。 Basically， it's a look at why we make music， how it affects us， why some have more 'talent' than others， etc。 as well as how different brain chemistry or genetics affects our ability to learn and/or appreciate various types of music as well as how music may affect the brain。 。。。more
Anda
，
The first two chapters were very difficult for me， but it got better and better and better as it went on。
Filip176
，
Strong on neurosciences， a didactic disaster on music。 3。5/5 Why I read the book: I am curious about how our brains and minds deal with creativity in general， and how it arises in the first place。 Although I am not overly interested in music， Levitin's book looked as if it might be able to answer some of my questions。 （And it did） Levitin himself seems the ideal candidate to write about these topics， being a musician-turned-neuroscientist and hence having acquired expertise in both fields。 What Strong on neurosciences， a didactic disaster on music。 3。5/5 Why I read the book: I am curious about how our brains and minds deal with creativity in general， and how it arises in the first place。 Although I am not overly interested in music， Levitin's book looked as if it might be able to answer some of my questions。 （And it did） Levitin himself seems the ideal candidate to write about these topics， being a musician-turned-neuroscientist and hence having acquired expertise in both fields。 What I liked about the book: The neuroscience is presented in a systematic， accessible way that I found very readable。 It was easy for me to follow the "red thread" along which Levitin structured his book。 The last two chapters especially were compellingly narrated and left my mouth hanging open more than once。 What I was neutral about， but what others should know: Levitin's style is clearly inspired by his scientific career。 Both in his structure and choice of words， the standard scientific writing style is easily discernible。 Having enjoyed a scientific education， this type of writing is familiar to me and did not pose any challenge， on the contrary; knowing my basics of scientific writing helped me to easily navigate Levitin's text。 Readers that are unfamiliar with scientific publications might find the style cumbersome and may need a while to acclimate to it。 What I disliked about the book: The first few chapters of the book dealt mainly with musical theory。 Even though I learned an instrument in my youth and should be familiar with the basic concepts， reading about them in English for the first time was challenging。 Additionally， writing about music may not be the best of ideas， generally speaking。 Levitin cites examples from all genres and many different periods， but 90% of the time， I simply did not know which tunes he was talking about， and Levitin did not captivate me enough to open my music app and play the songs he referred to。 As a result， most of Levitin's musical theory excursions and examples were lost on me。 This might not be a problem for musicians or true music enthusiasts， but it was bothersome for me。 Overall， I do not regret having read Levitin's book。 If you're interested both in music and neurosciences， you're likely to like it a lot。 Since I'm only marginally interested in music， the music-only parts of the book were rather tedious for me。 The neuroscience chapters， though， I enjoyed a lot and can recommend whole-heartedly。 。。。more
Gerardas Šiaulys
，
I felt compelled to really take my time dissecting this excellent collection of letters。 The neuroscientific perspective on music is presented in a very accessible and very dense way， which had me going on all sorts of tangents， digging deeper into topics merely mentioned。 Also lmao @ S。 Pinker toward the end。 It was obvious to me that one shouldn't listen to anything a man who dances like that has to say。 I felt compelled to really take my time dissecting this excellent collection of letters。 The neuroscientific perspective on music is presented in a very accessible and very dense way， which had me going on all sorts of tangents， digging deeper into topics merely mentioned。 Also lmao @ S。 Pinker toward the end。 It was obvious to me that one shouldn't listen to anything a man who dances like that has to say。 。。。more
Shelly Adrian
，
I liked the idea of this book， but （having no music knowledge at all） I was exhausted after reading the first chapter as it was all new to me to learn about pitch， notes， octaves， etc。 The next section compared music by naming bands， and as another reviewer stated， it would have been much more accessible to see a video with snippets of sound， instead of describing the sound。
Heidi
，
Fascinating！ I highly recommend listening rather than reading because they play parts of songs and scales as they discuss them， which makes the connection easier。
Mark Hottinger
，
This is an interesting book， but a hard read in places。 The subject matter is more on the scientific side than on the music side。 Not the key I was hoping for。
Call girls in Sharjah
，
Pakistani Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Escorts In SharjahPakistani Escorts Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Escorts ServiceIndependent Pakistani Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent Pakistani EscortsPakistani Call Girls in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Call GirlsIndependent Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent EscortsEscort Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Escort ServiceEscorts Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Escorts ServiceI Pakistani Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Escorts In SharjahPakistani Escorts Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Escorts ServiceIndependent Pakistani Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent Pakistani EscortsPakistani Call Girls in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Call GirlsIndependent Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent EscortsEscort Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Escort ServiceEscorts Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Escorts ServiceIndependent Call Girls in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent Call GirlsVip Pakistani Escorts +971567563337 Pakistani Escorts in SharjahVip Pakistani Escorts Service +971567563337 Pakistani Escorts Service in SharjahVip Independent Pakistani Escorts +971567563337 Independent Pakistani Escorts in SharjahVip Pakistani Call Girls +971567563337 Pakistani Call Girls in SharjahVip Independent Escorts +971567563337 Independent Escorts in SharjahPakistani Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani EscortsPakistani Escorts Service in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Pakistani Escorts ServiceIndependent Pakistani Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent Pakistani EscortsPakistani Call Girls in Sharjah +971567563337 Sharjah Pakistani Call GirlsIndependent Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent EscortsIndependent Call Girls in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Independent Call GirlsVip Pakistani Escorts +971567563337 Pakistani Escorts in SharjahVip Pakistani Escorts Service +971567563337 Pakistani Escorts Service in SharjahVip Pakistani Call Girls +971567563337 Pakistani Call Girls in SharjahVip Independent Escorts +971567563337 Independent Escorts in SharjahRussian Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Russian EscortsIncall Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Incall Escorts Outcall Escorts in Sharjah +971567563337 Vip Outcall EscortsOur Website:For more information please contact on our whatsapp account +971 567563337Rates :Incall 700 AED for 2-4 Hours Outcall 800 AED for 2-4 Hours Incall 1400 AED for 6-8 Hours （Full Night）Outcall 1600 AED for 6-8 Hours （Full Night）Note : These prices are negotiable just check our website or call and whatsapp us for best prices and services 。。。more
Eliza
，
This book was very easy to digest from a psychological/scientific point of view and perfectly married the interests of music with the inner workings of human brains。
Guitaa
，
Music is the soundtrack of your life。”IT is love in search of a word。” This book connected me with the song love is gone by Dylan Mathew。。。。。https://www。guitaa。com/chords/slander。。。 Music is the soundtrack of your life。”IT is love in search of a word。” This book connected me with the song love is gone by Dylan Mathew。。。。。https://www。guitaa。com/chords/slander。。。 。。。more
Pearl Gifty
，
Music
Filipe
，
An interesting read that I have no background to rate on the quality of the content。 The neurology seems sound by my basic understanding。 The subtitle doesn’t seem to really fit the books contents， however。 This is a solid book reporting several aspects of neurology and music， but simply mentioning several songs does nothing to me， which made the experience fall severely short for me， who am not very musically inclined and thus lack a vast repertoire to appreciate the references。 （Even the audio An interesting read that I have no background to rate on the quality of the content。 The neurology seems sound by my basic understanding。 The subtitle doesn’t seem to really fit the books contents， however。 This is a solid book reporting several aspects of neurology and music， but simply mentioning several songs does nothing to me， which made the experience fall severely short for me， who am not very musically inclined and thus lack a vast repertoire to appreciate the references。 （Even the audiobook only features a few musical samples， so it’s not like the medium was properly taken advantage of either）。 。。。more
Mary Kate
，
Fascinating but the neuroscience can be hard to follow
Scott
，
As a musician and a music lover， I was excited about this book and inclined to like it before I even started。 But it was honestly kind of a snoozefest。 There were some interesting bits about memory and neurology， but most of it just wasn't all that interesting。 Plus， it was dry and read like a textbook。 Disappointing。 As a musician and a music lover， I was excited about this book and inclined to like it before I even started。 But it was honestly kind of a snoozefest。 There were some interesting bits about memory and neurology， but most of it just wasn't all that interesting。 Plus， it was dry and read like a textbook。 Disappointing。 。。。more
Eleanor Bishop
，
Such an arduous read; heavily detailed and technically rambling with too many examples to prove each point。 This book was one part elaborate music theory， one part neuroscience textbook and one part boastful personal anecdotes that gave the author an air of self-importance。 The most interesting thing I found is that learning to play a musical instrument after age 20 is difficult because the brain is done developing。 If you have any questions on what music does to the brain， save yourself some ti Such an arduous read; heavily detailed and technically rambling with too many examples to prove each point。 This book was one part elaborate music theory， one part neuroscience textbook and one part boastful personal anecdotes that gave the author an air of self-importance。 The most interesting thing I found is that learning to play a musical instrument after age 20 is difficult because the brain is done developing。 If you have any questions on what music does to the brain， save yourself some time and money and Google it。 。。。more
Cody Stebbings
，
A very long awaited read for me， having been on me TBR list for 3 years before finally finding it in the UNSW bookshop thanks to my partner’s guidance。It certainly lived up to the hype I gave it。 The writing precision and scientific explanations， the relation and familiarity to all that was analysed and written， this is a fantastic book for music lovers and for science fanatics who want to learn that bit more about a phenomenon that is difficult to execute but is so universally loved。
Vladimir Martínez
，
Es un libro que no recomendaría a personas que no tienen un conocimiento en música básico， ya que es algo denso y aunque explica cada término， pienso que es muy difícil lograr captar la idea cuando apenas se te presenta este mundo de la música。 Por lo demás， siento que pone demasiados ejemplos que considero innecesarios o que se podrían enseñar de otra forma que no fuera con lectura。
Caroline Harbison
，
A great introduction to music psychology。 The music references are a bit outdated at this stage though， which hindered my understanding of a few concepts！
Laurie Knapp
，
I found this to be a perfect blend of science memoir， music theory， cognitive science， and a celebration of an emotional language we all share。 I’m currently trying to improve my music composition skills and this gave me unexpected insight into why we love the music we do， forever changing the way I appreciate music and write my own。 I was also fascinated by the detail of how different timbres and frequencies are perceived by our minds to create unique voices， instruments and combinations thereo I found this to be a perfect blend of science memoir， music theory， cognitive science， and a celebration of an emotional language we all share。 I’m currently trying to improve my music composition skills and this gave me unexpected insight into why we love the music we do， forever changing the way I appreciate music and write my own。 I was also fascinated by the detail of how different timbres and frequencies are perceived by our minds to create unique voices， instruments and combinations thereof。 We don’t do much as listen to music as recreate it in our minds， and the process is instinctively rewarding。 。。。more
Vanessa
，
Let me preface this review by saying I am a total music nerd and was very excited to read this book。 Unfortunately， while it had so much potential to be awesome， it really fell short for me and was a slog to read。 A lot of the content was interesting， but the author goes off on so many name dropping tangents that I often found myself lost and not knowing what he was talking about。 I also feel this would have made a better documentary， podcast， or audiobook， so we could actually hear what the aut Let me preface this review by saying I am a total music nerd and was very excited to read this book。 Unfortunately， while it had so much potential to be awesome， it really fell short for me and was a slog to read。 A lot of the content was interesting， but the author goes off on so many name dropping tangents that I often found myself lost and not knowing what he was talking about。 I also feel this would have made a better documentary， podcast， or audiobook， so we could actually hear what the author was talking about and be more engaged in the content。 Overall？ Disappointing。 。。。more
AJ Kerrigan
，
I loved this book - the intersection of music and cognitive psychology is fascinating。 I don't have any actual education in the area， but this worked fine for a curious layperson。 Some notes:- This Spotify playlist contains all songs referenced in this book， in order of appearance。- I split time between reading the ebook and listening to the audiobook， and found benefits to both formats。 While either format works fine on its own， the audiobook has an easier time referencing melodies since you ca I loved this book - the intersection of music and cognitive psychology is fascinating。 I don't have any actual education in the area， but this worked fine for a curious layperson。 Some notes:- This Spotify playlist contains all songs referenced in this book， in order of appearance。- I split time between reading the ebook and listening to the audiobook， and found benefits to both formats。 While either format works fine on its own， the audiobook has an easier time referencing melodies since you can hear them as opposed to reading something like da-DOO-da-DUM-dum。 The ebook includes a couple optical illusions in one section （not critical info）， and the appendices/acknowledgements/bibliography。- The bibliography is useful for anyone who wants to follow the rabbit hole deeper。 Advanced sources are marked with an asterisk as a "here be dragons" warning for the masses （like me）。 There are also short annotations alongside many of the sources， providing some context about where and how they fed into the book。 。。。more
Maria George
，
Very interesting！ Would be better as an audio book with the referenced music playing in the background。
Kelly
，
Some interesting facts， but others which are things which you likely know if you have a BA in psych。
Thomas Verdoorn
，
A intriguing read on the impact of music on the brain， this book delves into research concerning the unique way that the human brain is constructed to create and enjoy music。 If you want to learn basic music theory and some fascinating neuroscience， read this book！
Summy Singh
，
guitaa helped me alot to learn [love is gone lyrics and chords]（https://www。guitaa。com/chords/slander。。。）。 It was easy for me to learn love is gone lyrics and chords because of this site great features。 guitaa helped me alot to learn [love is gone lyrics and chords]（https://www。guitaa。com/chords/slander。。。）。 It was easy for me to learn love is gone lyrics and chords because of this site great features。 。。。more
Nicole
，
I quite enjoyed this。 Probably especially because I'm in all psychology classes right now。。。 I quite enjoyed this。 Probably especially because I'm in all psychology classes right now。。。 。。。more
David
，
Some interesting new material， some refresher of things I should’ve known but have half-forgotten for 40 or 50 years， some self-praise on the author’s part， and lots of good examples that， to me anyway， make the science of music recognizable in terms of music that I know。 Worth the reading。
Niranjana Sundararajan
，
Too verbose for my liking。 But the points discussed are almost magical。 Music will remain my drug of choice in this neverending pandemic。
Holly Kasberger
，