It is interesting to read the previous reviews of this book; so many people seem to have ignored the author’s explicit caveats that he is mostly discussing Western cultivated music 1) because that is the music he is most familiar with, 2) because that is the music most researched with regard to his topic of brain response, and 3) because Westerners do not have adequate vocabulary or understanding of other musical endeavors, such as the polyrhythms of Western African music. He is very clear that some African music has a long tradition of developing rhythm in its performances, rhythm that Western art music has virtually ignored in favor of certain types of harmonic and structural inventions. Because he sets out his perspective so clearly, I don’t find it fair to criticize the author for not providing what a reader might hope for in a book.The writing is well-constructed; the author uses everyday language to describe complex and scientific information.
As a new student of music I was filled with questions. Why exactly did we humans (unlike animals) evolve to appreciate music? What survival benefit could it have provided? And how exactly does music give us pleasure? What is really going on in the body when a great piece of music touches our inner soul to the point of giving us goose bumps? Unfortunately I found teachers and peers not only devoid of answers to such questions, but completely unreceptive to them. Many people are even hostile towards such questions. Buy Cheap Norpro Glass Froth Master . I felt surrounded by automatons content only with pushing levers and petals on their instruments, completely disinterested in the exact nature of what they were doing. I find such people devoid of one of the most important instincts that supposedly separates us from the animal kingdom, high curiosity.Robert Jourdain’s book, Music, the Brain and Ecstasy, was exactly what I needed to read.
What makes a distant oboe’s wail beautiful? Why do some kinds of music lift us to ecstasy, but not others? How can music make sense to an ear and brain evolved for detecting the approaching lion or tracking the unsuspecting gazelle? Lyrically interweaving discoveries from science, psychology, music theory, paleontology, and philosophy, Robert Jourdian brilliantly examines why music speaks to us in ways that words cannot, and why we form such powerful connections to it. In clear, understandable language, Jourdian expertly guides the reader through a continuum of musical experience: sound, tone, melody, harmony, rhythm, composition, performance, listening, understanding–and finally to ecstasy. Along the way, a fascinating cast of characters brings Jourdian’s narrative to vivid life: “idiots savants” who absorb whole pieces on a single hearing, composers who hallucinate entire compositions, a psychic who claims to take dictation from long-dead composers, and victims of brain damage who can move only when they hear music. Teva Men’s Omnium Closed Toe Sandal Reasonable . Here is a book that will entertain, inform, and stimulate everyone who loves music–and make them think about their favorite song in startling new ways.What makes a distant oboes wail beautiful? Why do some kinds of music lift us to ecstasy, but not others? How can music make sense to an ear and brain evolved for detecting the approaching lion or tracking the unsuspecting gazelle? Lyrically interweaving discoveries from science, psychology, music theory, paleontology, and philosophy, Robert Jourdian brilliantly examines why music speaks to us in ways that words cannot, and why we form such powerful connections to it.
In clear, understandable language, Jourdian expertly guides the reader through a continuum of musical experience: sound, tone, melody, harmony, rhythm, composition, performance, listening, understanding–and finally to ecstasy. Along the way, a fascinating cast of characters brings Jourdians narrative to vivid life: idiots savants who absorb whole pieces on a single hearing, composers who hallucinate entire compositions, a psychic who claims to take dictation from long-dead composers, and victims of brain damage who can move only when they hear music. Here is a book that will entertain, inform, and stimulate everyone who loves music–and make them think about their favorite song in startling new ways.It is interesting to read the previous reviews of this book; so many people seem to have ignored the author’s explicit caveats that he is mostly discussing Western cultivated music 1) because that is the music he is most familiar with, 2) because that is the music most researched with regard to his topic of brain response, and 3) because Westerners do not have adequate vocabulary or understanding of other musical endeavors, such as the polyrhythms of Western African music. He is very clear that some African music has a long tradition of developing rhythm in its performances, rhythm that Western art music has virtually ignored in favor of certain types of harmonic and structural inventions. Because he sets out his perspective so clearly, I don’t find it fair to criticize the author for not providing what a reader might hope for in a book.The writing is well-constructed; the author uses everyday language to describe complex and scientific information.
As a new student of music I was filled with questions. Why exactly did we humans (unlike animals) evolve to appreciate music? What survival benefit could it have provided? And how exactly does music give us pleasure? What is really going on in the body when a great piece of music touches our inner soul to the point of giving us goose bumps? Unfortunately I found teachers and peers not only devoid of answers to such questions, but completely unreceptive to them. Many people are even hostile towards such questions. I felt surrounded by automatons content only with pushing levers and petals on their instruments, completely disinterested in the exact nature of what they were doing. I find such people devoid of one of the most important instincts that supposedly separates us from the animal kingdom, high curiosity.Robert Jourdain’s book, Music, the Brain and Ecstasy, was exactly what I needed to read.
nannymenefielddpp 