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L'istinto Musicale: Come E Perché Abbiamo La Musica Dentro (2010)

by Philip Ball(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

8822002520 (ISBN13: 9788822002525)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Dedalo

review 1: Quite stunning tour de force about pretty much everything one needs to know about how music impacts on the human mind. Based on state of the art research, classic studies as well as the author's own theories, it gives a very convincing account of the power of music and the fact that it is often our musical preferences that determine its impact, rather than some inherent quality in the music itself (hereby rubbishing the 'Mozart effect').But the book does much more than that. It points out that the human brain has a remarkable ability to integrate musical elements, navigating with ease, even in quite unfamiliar musical territories. The author makes a strong case for the fact that musical appreciation is an inherent quality of the human mind that can be possibly explained in... more evolutionary terms (among others, the human mind likes games of 'expectation' and its violation, and many composers handily manipulate human cognition to stimulate this need). There is a clear message there that music should not be degraded to a product for elitist snubs or 'musical experts', who often don't understand the way human cognition interacts with organised sound themselves, thereby often denying people their right to appreciate the more 'mundane' aspects of music, as if there is only one way to appreciate music, by following set guidelines. Quite clearly, this is not the case.Even at its most speculative, this book remains a very interesting read, suggesting that there is still plenty of scope to learn much more about how music impacts on our minds, without any of this taking away from the wonder and mystery of what is surely the most intense and satisfying of arts.
review 2: We dont really understand the neurological basis of musical appreciation, so here comes another book on why we listen to music from the musical perspective.It's a well written study across the technical basis of music but falls down in its appreciation of the neurological interface.If you have a musical background this is a good book for you to read, however, if you dont, forget it.It will come out as gobbledeegook and will confuse you further....Hey, it is worth a try less

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