This Is Your Brain on Music

The Science of a Human Obsession

By: Daniel J. Levitin

Narrated by: Daniel J. Levitin

Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life - even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last becoming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Both a cutting-edge study and a tribute to the beauty of music itself, This Is Your Brain on Music unravels a host of mysteries that affect everything from pop culture to our understanding of human nature, including:

• Are our musical preferences shaped in utero?
• Is there a cutoff point for acquiring new tastes in music?
• What do PET scans and MRIs reveal about the brain’s response to music?
• Is musical pleasure different from other kinds of pleasure?

This Is Your Brain on Music explores cultures in which singing is considered an essential human function, patients who have a rare disorder that prevents them from making sense of music, and scientists studying why two people may not have the same definition of pitch. At every turn, this provocative work unlocks deep secrets about how nature and nurture forge a uniquely human obsession.

©2006 Daniel J. Levitin (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Endlessly stimulating, a marvelous overview, and one which only a deeply musical neuroscientist could give.... An important book." (Oliver Sacks, MD)

"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)

Wow!

Un trésor d’information pour un amateur de musique et science. Excellente narration de l’auteur et quelques exemples musicaux qui rendent l’écoute très vivante.

Fascinating

I learned so much from Daniel re neuroprocessing of music and, specifically, rhythm and timbre. He is not a natural at narration however and I grew tired of his inflections and emphases.

Wonderful Harmony of Music and Neuroscience

Outstanding exploration of the way our minds listen to, experience, process, and create music. Highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves music, which I believe is pretty much everyone.
The one tiny thing I didn’t love is the author surprisingly perpetuates the myth that the tritone was banned by the church. (It wasn’t!) But that’s a small thing. It’s really an excellent book.

Enlightening!

I love how this book explores the interaction between the brain, the mind and music; why and how we respond to organized sound. As a music teacher, I find it very helpful to understand the historical foundations of what our beings respond to and how music impacts the development of the brain, especially in young people. This book provokes my thought as to how I might teach in the future. Thank you, Daniel.

Great words but needs actual musica examples.

Without audio examples, it becomes incredibly frustrating. Could be really great with those to help.

Muy interesante

Explica cosas básicas para no músicos y de allí ya puedes entender a lo que se refiere en los siguientes capítulos.
Vale la pena en audio para entender mejor cómo es una nota, el tono, etc.

Excellent performance and interesting information

The author did an excellent job with the performance including musical chords, notes, etc. . The information relating to how our brains react and function with the influence of music is thought invoking. I love all the explanations of how chords are used and notes in the scales. There's so much to get out of this book!

this is my brain bored

this book was not what I was expecting. not interesting at all. not recommended

I gave up after finishing Ch.6

It was frustrating going through the book. The author reminds me of professors at the university who can’t teach. I tried very hard to stay focused, but the author was just throwing a whole bunch of facts and findings at the readers without much organisation as to their relevance and meaning. Maybe the author could read “Why We Sleep” and see how Matthew Walker explains something technical to layman.

Really boring.

unless you're a serious music lover and/or in academics for music then you won't find this book interesting. it reads like a text book. I only picked up maybe 1 or 2 interesting things from the whole book.