This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Daniel J. Levitin
DUTTON, Penguin Group (USA) Inc. (2006)
Reviewer L. Croyle

I was once told that people with small minds talk about other people.
People with medium size minds talk about events that have occurred and
people with large minds talk about concepts, ideas and theories. Daniel J.
Levitin in his book, This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human
Obsession has provided an opportunity for large mind activity. Levitin
presents numerous theories and ideas about music, the brain and how the
two relate. He begins by examining the similarities between the work of an
artist and that of a scientist. Artists try to convey universal truth that will
continue to move and touch people even as context, societies and culture
changes. Scientists develop theories that convey the truth for now. He
further strengthens this connection by showing the similarities between an
artists studio and a scientists laboratory. Each has a number of projects
occurring simultaneously and at various stage of incompletion. The projects
are open to interpretation and re-interpretation. Each live in an open-ended
state of mind where todays truths become tomorrows disproved hypothesis
or forgotten objects of art.

He describes music theory and the dimensions of music. The sound

elements or fundamental perceptual attributes of loudness, pitch, contour,
duration, tempo, timbre, spatial location and reverberation are organized into
higher level concepts of meter, harmony and melody. He expands this basic
information with gems such as, the church banning the augmented 4th as the
work of Lucifer, or, pitch being the primary means to convey musical
emotions such as mood, excitement, calm, romance or danger. Levitin
provides plentiful examples across a wide number of genres (classical, rock,
hip hop, jazz, etc) to demonstrate his points.

Molecules vibrating through the air at certain frequencies are picked

up by the eardrums and processed throughout the brain. This suggests that
the proposition that the left brain is for analytical functions and the right
brain is for creative endeavours is a bit simplistic. Analysis and abstract
thinking is carried out on both sides of the brain. Memory theories,
constructivist and multiple trace memories are discussed in terms of concept
development and music memory. Throughout this book, Levitin explores
the use of music to communicate a message and to influence emotions.
Setting up and manipulation of expectations is the heart of music. For
example, using a classic fade out or ending the song abruptly in the middle
of a note will have different effects on the listener. When the Carpenters
used distorted electric guitars, or the Rolling Stones used violins to change
timbre are further examples of manipulating expectations. Elvis Presleys,
Hound Dog, with its sudden stops or Creedence Clearwater Revivals
Looking Out my Backdoor, changes in speed are additional examples that
manipulate rhythm. Stings bass lines avoid playing on the downbeat or
synchronously with the bass drum, both of which we expect from our
Western culture rock groups. The playing of scales minus the root notes
brings a sense of dreaming, floating or weightlessness.

Survival of a species requires two activities, mating and protecting the

offspring. Levitin suggests that music plays a part in this survival. Some
men buy big fancy cars and build elaborate houses for aesthetic purposes
and to display their ability to provide resources beyond the basic needs.
This flaunting of material wealth demonstrates the likelihood that their
offspring will have ample food, shelter and protection. However, creativity
trumps wealth in the best genes category. To have a comfortable life, the
wealthy man will do, but to have capable offspring find a musician, artist,
writer or scientist. Someone who is creative.
It takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice to become a world
class expert. That is 3 hours a day for ten years. Some individuals get more
out of practice than others, but there are no experts that have not spent this
amount of time developing their skills and knowledge. Some individuals
will take longer, if at all, but around 10,000 hours is the minimum. But
music should not be reserved for these few. We should not be turned into a
world of listeners, of non-participants. The idea that a certain standard of
performance must be reached in order to play music is absurd, yet this idea
is promoted through concerts, CD and DVD sales and marketing. Our
culture is promoting a class of expert performers and a class of those who
watch. Levitin points out how participation in music has changed over the
decades. We use to believe that if you could walk you could dance and if
you could talk you could sing. If music does what Levitin says it does, then
we would be better off as a society and a species to promote full
participation in music, regardless of our performance standard.

This books bridges that gap between textbook type of writing and
research journal writing. It presents factual information in an easy to read
format while providing enough research evidence to make the information
useful. It allows the reader to form opinions based on scientific evidence
without being swamped by impeding references. Yet, it provides ample
references and support for more in-depth inquiries. I looked forward to
Daniel J. Levitins next book and hope that he investigates what happens
within those 10,000 hours not only to enable an individual to develop their
technical expertise but also the expertise in using music to present a message
that stimulates emotions.