How Music Works: A listener's guide to harmony, keys, broken chords, perfect pitch and the secrets of a good tune [Paperback]

 

 

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I am, sadly, neither a musician nor a scientist, but music has been a passion for as long as I can remember! Without understanding why, I've always been aware that certain pieces of music will provoke certain emotions; 'How Music Works' provides all the answers. This insightful book is written in a friendly, down-to-earth style, and left me feeling as though I'd just had a long conversation with a friend (albeit a rather one-sided conversation with a friend far more intelligent than me), rather than scratching my head in a rather nonplussed manner. 'How Music Works' is unlike any other book on the topic; the science and psychology of music is a topic that remains largely inaccessible within literature to anyone who doesn't already have a Phd in it. However, this fantastic book is full of interesting and witty anecdotes, helpful illustrations, and explains even the most complicated aspects of musicology in a way that is easy to understand, without seeming patronising. 'How Music Works' is a book to be enjoyed by anyone of any age with a keen interest in music!

I have always had an aptitude for and interest in science. I am a medical student and am interested in the human brain and how we as humans see the world and interact with our environment.

One thing that I love perhaps as much as science is music. I find it possibly the single best cure for emotional disturbance, especially stress of any kind and have often wondered why this is?

I have noticed that music can have a profound affect on mood and state of mind. Sometimes it brings about nostalgia attached to a memory that I doubt I would remember without the auditory cue. Sometimes it makes me so happy that I walk down the street with my headphones in my ears grinning at passers by, and sometimes it simply brings tears to my eyes. It is certainly a very emotive tool and science in its own right.

When I discovered the book `How Music Works' by John Powell I thought to myself `this might be worth a read!' I certainly was not wrong.

This book does what it says on the tin really. The author uses a scientific approach to explain exactly how music works, without isolating the lay person. He uses examples and analogies we can all relate to explain concepts in a logical and understandable manner without compromising on detail and depth of explanation, which in my humble opinion is quite a skill.

The style of writing is witty and light hearted so this book makes for an entertaining as well as interesting and informative read. Several times I found myself subject to a few funny looks on the tube as I laughed out loud whilst reading the book on my daily commute. I also found my self thinking `ok so now I get it!' and listening to music between chapters to put my new found knowledge to the test and matching the newly found concepts in the book to the notes, chords, scales and harmonies I was listening to!

The book covers all aspects of music and the way that it works, including explanations about different instruments and how they create the sound that they do, harmony, scales, the difference between notes and noise, and yes there is physics behind why these differ, why music evokes different emotional responses, rhythm, perfect pitch... and so on! Basically everything you could possibly want to know about the ins and outs of this thing we call music.

Chapter 2 explains what perfect pitch is and also provides the reader with a quick and easy way of assessing whether they themselves have perfect pitch. It's great! You never know, you could have what it takes to be the next Madonna or Michael Jackson.

Chapter 6, how loud is loud is interesting. It explains the system that we have come up with over the years for measuring loudness which is more complicated than you may first think. It also explains why ten instruments sounds only twice as loud as one and why one hundred instruments only sounds four times as loud as one. Yes that's right, it's true. We don't like that though do we? It doesn't make sense. Well as the author correctly points out, six smelly socks aren't six times as smelly as one, and ten salted peanuts in your mouth aren't five times as salty as two (even though you have five times as much salt on your tongue.) After reading this chapter you will see why simply adding more instruments to existing instruments does not add loudness proportionately. The explanation for this involves both the way that sound waves join together as well as why our brains don't add up sounds properly. This, interestingly, relates to survival the avoidance of danger. Our brain will choose what it pays attention to based on how threatening it assesses the noise to be.

This book is well written, well illustrated, entertaining and informative. I whole heartedly recommend it as an excellent read for anyone - whether you're a musician or scientist or both or even if you're neither and just love a good tune! Enjoy.

I am not a musician but have always been an avid listener. I have always wondered why certain pieces of music are more pleasing than others, and `how music works' provided the answer. Written in a very light hearted and informative style it covers the basics all the way through to complex musical techniques which are explained by way of interesting and sometimes amusing anecdotes. Definitely a book that will appeal to those interested in music from the beginner to the aficionado.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Amusing and Informative
There are a lot of very dry books around on this subject but this is very well written and amusing to read but still an excellent guide to the physics behind music and music... Read more

Published 3 months ago by John Francis

5.0 out of 5 stars How Music Works
`How Music Works ` in an informative and informal look at how music has the power to move us as deeply as it does. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Spider Monkey

5.0 out of 5 stars My type of book - by one of the other John Powells
My partner bought me a Kindle for my birthday, but I got her to return it, and I plumped for this book instead. I wasn't disappointed. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Fjw Powell

4.0 out of 5 stars enlightening
I used to own a book called Rudiments and Theory of Music. It put me off. I wish I'd had this. It doesn't cover all the same material but it deals with the basics of music and... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Stephen

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who, like me, has little to no knowledge of the inner workings of music.

Mr. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Mr. G. Shippen

2.0 out of 5 stars Informative but crashingy badly edited
Whoever edited this book should have insisted that the author instigate a merciless cull of all the barely worth it wimsical asides and the abundance of limp, barely functioning... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Querfs

5.0 out of 5 stars A right riveting read!
I really like this book. It sets everything out really clearly, and is easy to dip in and out of. highly recommended!

Published 16 months ago by ZOK

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide to Music and Science
As a scientist and educationalist I found this book both useful for background information and also satisfying simply as a good entertainiing read. Read more

Published 16 months ago by micmac

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Superb read it in three days. Gives you an appetite for finding out more about hearing. Always wanted to know about what music actually is! Read more

Published 16 months ago by Matthew Allen

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant for guitarists
A great book. I have been a jazz/blues guitar player for over 20 years and there have always been things I've felt like I wanted to know about music - and here are all the... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Guitarman

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