The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can't Do without it Book

What is it that makes music so universally appealing? No culture exists without music present in some form. Happy and sad music is culturally similar throughout the world, as is the octave. Phillip Ball argues that music is something we just can't do without because our brains are fundamentally wired for sound and music appreciation. The study of neuroscience gives a compelling explanation for the way music is processed into logical pattern matching and emotional responses. Ball explains how the motor senses are affected and therefore create the need to move. Interesting studies of music across the world enlighten understanding about the social purpose of music. How the brain unconsciously develops expectations about what music is going to do, is supported by the evolutionary theory of survival of the fittest and thus the need to understand where sound is coming from. A central theory is that the emotions are engaged when music does not do what is expected. An inspiring interplay of philosophy, history, mathematics and neuroscience aimed to increase our appreciation of the music around and within us. Read More