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This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

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. Drawing on the latest research and on musical examples ranging from Mozart to Duke Ellington to Van Halen, Levitin 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 heads

And, taking on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin argues that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language. This Is Your Brain on Music is an unprecedented, eye-opening investigation into an obsession at the heart of human nature.
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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Oct-17-2009

Fascinating, unclear at times

A skilled music composer or performer uses his/her experience and knowledge to elicit an emotional response in the listener. However, musicianship is a largely empirical craft -- a composer may know what sounds good from experience, but s/he may not know why what sounds good sounds good. For...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Oct-04-2009

If You Really Want To Get Down To The Nitty AND The Gritty Of MUSIC...!

Here we have a musical scientist's delineation of music and how our brains process music. Levitan begins the book by sharing with the reader the point in his pre-adolescence when he bought a stereo (for $100.00), listened to it too loudly and his father, in turn, bought him some headphones, at...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Sep-27-2009

An Enlightening and Entertaining Glimpse into Music Processing and Preferences

Daniel 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...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Aug-10-2009

An enlightening perspective on the mystery of music and the mind!

This book provides an interesting glimpse into the world of music through the lens of cognitive neuroscience. Although the text sometimes veers into tangents here and there, the book is a fascinating read from cover to cover. Highly recommend it to anyone passionate about music and/or the brain.

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Jul-05-2009

Whoa Dang...

This book will blow your mind. It should be standard literature for anyone who's musically inclined. Everything you've ever wondered about music and why we even care about it is in there.

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Jun-04-2009

If you make a mistake, be sure to repeat it

Several reviewers with considerable expert knowledge in the area have - it is fair to say - excoriated this book on this site. Levitin may be a clever experimentalist, and possibly a good music producer. That did not qualify him to attempt a project of this nature. The musical errors are...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: May-11-2009

The X Factor

Well written and informative, but Mr. Levitin is apparently unable to recognize the X factor that is the indescribable, innate quality of an artist that cannot be taught; that does not need years of training to release--and is the reason why some highly trained people are brilliant technicians,...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: May-10-2009

Fantastic Book!

This book does an amazing job of introducing the reader to how the brain works, how it develops in the human, and how it responds to various stimuli including music. Combined with the works of Damasio and Leonard Meyer (U of Chicago), the book immerses the reader in a wonderful sea of...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Jan-08-2009

This is my brain on meltdown

I have an IQ of 156, and have been involved in music for over 30 years, as musician, performer, reviewer, promoter, photographer, judge, vocalist, and Karaoke. I was intrigued in the extreme by the book 's description. I have to say I was disappointed. The author is both very experienced and...

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  • From: Amazon
  • Posted: Dec-14-2008

Brilliant and Inspiring

Brilliant and inspiring. It gives a great understanding of music and how we perceive it. It is written in a very accessible language for those of us music enthusiasts with no knowledge of neuroscience.

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