This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.20 You Save: $8.80 (59%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Book Review: any impressario, non-performer, non-musician, lacks credibility
Summary: 1 Stars
For a musicican, for one trained as a musician, this is a heady intellectual book. However, it often misses the point - entirely, aesthetically, and in practical terms. For instance, a piece practiced a 1000 times, according to the author, should be peerless. Obviously, this is not true. The native talent of the performer is paramount, and, most of all, the piece may be practiced WRONGLY 1000 times, of which, as a non-performer, the author is clearly unaware. The author also almost completely ignores the influence and insight of professional classical performers. The author is an administrator and impressario of rock and probably rap bands. The author has no training in musicology, and probably never talked to a musicologist. I admire the intent, but there are no breakthroughs here in understanding, or enjoying music, and no great insights into music's magic.
Book Review: Music For The Brain?
Summary: 3 Stars
Certainly well documented and written for those in the know. It tends to be somewhat boring on some occations but you have to continue on the read to hear the music!Book Review: Very interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
Being a musician, I was suprised at how little I actually knew about sound. The book was very interesting and well written. If you're at all curious about the phycology of sound, check out this book.Book Review: Absolutely perfect marriage of music, psychology, and neurology
Summary: 5 Stars
This was an amazing read that I absolutely could not put down. This is exactly the book I have been waiting years for. It is written for people with a deep interest in both science and music; I believe that many "engineer/scientist by day and musician by night" types will love this book. Best of all, it does not require a deep understanding of music, psychology, or neurology (although one of Levitin's premises seems to be that we ALL have a deep understanding of music, whether we know it or not!)
Levitin starts out with a chapter or so on his background and music theory. As many reviewers have mentioned, the music theory presented here (and throughout the book) may not be new material for practicing musicians, but it does lay a good groundwork for many of the definitions and ideas that Levitin uses throughout the text.
Moving on to the rest of the book, Levitin has an interesting style that I found riveting. The book is not highly dense with ideas - it is not a textbook. It often takes several pages to come to a point. However, in these pages, Levitin is either giving historical information about how the current theories have come about, telling anecdotes related to the topic, or explaining laboratory results that have shed light on the topic.
Please do not misunderstand the intent of this book . . . it is not a thesis, a textbook, a journal article, etc. It should not be used as a primary source for information on any of the topics presented. And Levitin lays this out in the forward. This book is geared toward a much broader audience.
Book Review: not written for a musician
Summary: 3 Stars
Although i was personally quite disappointed with the book, I have given it a rating of 3 stars because it perhaps serves a role educating younger readers looking for a few interesting ideas or a general overview of music psychology.
As for me, I found myself skimming the pages as rapidly as possible, occasionally saying out loud in frustration, "Get to the point!" The few interesting ideas (such as that professional musicians tend to transfer activities from the right brain to the left) I had already picked up elsewhere.
I have nothing against the author. He seems friendly and nice enough, and has obviously spent a lot of time and effort researching the subject, coming to reasonable and well-supported positions. However, I do think a lot more (or better?) editing was called for, so that ideas were presented in a more organized way, and a lot of fluff and unnecessary repetition removed.
In summary, this could be an introduction to the subject if you have never thought about it before, but if you are a musician, and have thought at all about the psychology and evolution of music, even casually, and especially if you have kept up with the general media's coverage of new scientific research, this will not have anything to offer you. In addition, if you like writing to be dense with ideas and information (Oliver Sacks is a good example), this will be particularly frustrating.