The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human NatureThe author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music’s role in the evolution of human culture in this thought-provoking book that “will leave you awestruck” (The New York Times). Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Here he identifies six fundamental song functions or types—friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love—then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these “six songs” work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work in an array of related fields; his own sometimes hilarious experiences in the music business; and illuminating interviews with musicians such as Sting and David Byrne, as well as conductors, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists. The World in Six Songs is, ultimately, a revolution in our understanding of how human nature evolved—right up to the iPod. |
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THE WORLD IN SIX SONGS: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
User Review - KirkusMusic played a key role in making societies and civilizations possible.So argues research scientist Levitin (Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise/McGill University; This Is Your ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - motjebben - LibraryThingEnjoyable read! Levitin explores the effect that six categories of "songs" have had on human evolution, communication-to-language, and society. He illustrates his hypotheses with snippets of lyrics ... Read full review
Contents
Friendship | |
Comfort | |
Why we listen to sad music when were sad Lullabyes and the blues And | |
Music as an informationbearing medium Learning memory and oral | |
Religion | |
Love | |
Appendix | |
Acknowledgments | |
Other editions - View all
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature Daniel J. Levitin Limited preview - 2008 |
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature Daniel J. Levitin No preview available - 2010 |
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature Daniel J. Levitin No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
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