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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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188 Reviews

Love it (57%)  |  Hate it (27%)  |  On the Fence (16%)  |  Didn't Rate it (0%)
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From: Amazon Posted: Jun 30, 2008 Type: User Review Irritating

I, too, found the endless name-dropping endlessly irritating. As to the rest - I leave it to the more knowledgeable among us. However, I do recommend reading ALL the reviews before reading the book.

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2.00 Star Rating
2.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Jun 24, 2008 Type: User Review great, a revelation

As a professional musician and a medical doctor, I must say it is the best book on music - in all its facets - that I've ever read.
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Jun 21, 2008 Type: User Review Amazing facts from a uniquely well-informed expert

The author is very experienced in both the relevant science, and the real music industry. I have a strong sense that he knows what he's talking about and is highly credible. The writing style is excellent. There were all kinds of facts in here...
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Jun 08, 2008 Type: User Review On the whole, not worthwhile

Like many of the negative reviewers, I found that *This Is Your Brain on Music* didn't enhance either my knowledge of music or of cognitive science. It's not without any substance, but that substance has been spread pretty thinly, and it offers...
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2.00 Star Rating
2.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: May 25, 2008 Type: User Review Very interesting

I am a musician and although I have not yet finished the book it has captivated me and helped me realize why I am the way I am and maybe why others are the way they are as far as music choices. God made us incredible!
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: May 23, 2008 Type: User Review Attempts to popularize recent pscyhology research on music

And fails. Two main problems:

1) Levitin can't write worth a darn: inelegant, disorganized (both on the larger scale and in things like dividing his prose into paragraphs) and sloppy. I keep hearing about how the publishing industry...
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2.00 Star Rating
2.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: May 05, 2008 Type: User Review Engaging...

I absolutely love this book. It discusses all the parts of music that I have ever wondered about (being a musician myself.) I enjoyed this book so much because it's easy to read but also extremely engaging. David Levitin is so brilliant and...
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5.00 Star Rating
5.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Apr 23, 2008 Type: User Review Plenty of detail

The most striking feature of this book for me is that it blurs the line between music as an aesthetic experience & the study of the brain as a scientific exercise.

So while it does a great job of defining the various parameters we...
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4.00 Star Rating
4.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Apr 05, 2008 Type: User Review Triviality masquerading as science

Think about earworms, you know, those tunes that you can't stop playing back in your head.

Now we'll play a little game. We'll take some ordinary English sentences but dress them up in smartypants neuroscience language. So instead of...
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2.00 Star Rating
2.00/5
From: Amazon Posted: Mar 18, 2008 Type: User Review "A Little Knowledger is a Dangerous Thing"

Daniel J. Levitin is a hack. He is a living embodyment of the term used in the title of this review. There is no science here, only opinion and second hand knowledge that anyone with any amount of musical education already knows. He should read...
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2.00 Star Rating
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