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This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
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This Is Your Brain on Music

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This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
Paperback $18.00
Aug 28, 2007 | ISBN 9780452288522

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  • $18.00

    Aug 28, 2007 | ISBN 9780452288522

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  • Aug 03, 2006 | ISBN 9781101218914

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  • Feb 04, 2020 | ISBN 9780593212417

    707 Minutes

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  • Aug 16, 2007 | ISBN 9781429586917 | Young Adult

    371 Minutes

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Praise

“Endlessly stimulating, a marvelous overview, and one which only a deeply musical neuroscientist could give….An important book.”—Oliver Sacks, M.D.

“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 

Awards

CINE Special Jury Prize for Arts and Culture WINNER

Quill Award WINNER

Rockie Award Nominee WINNER

Table Of Contents

This Is Your Brain On MusicIntroduction
I Love Music and I Love Science—Why Would I Want to Mix the Two?

1. What Is Music?
From Pitch to Timbre

2. Foot Tapping
Discerning Rhythm, Loudness, and Harmony

3. Behind the Curtain
Music and the Mind Machine

4. Anticipation
What We Expect from Liszt (and Ludacris)

5. You Know My Name, Look Up the Number
How We Categorize Music

6. After Dessert, Crick Was Still Four Seats Away from Me
Music, Emotion, and the Reptilian Brain

7. What Makes a Musician?
Expertise Dissected

8. My Favorite Things
Why Do We Like the Music We Like?

9. The Music Instinct
Evolution’s #1 Hit

Appendices
Bibliographic Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

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