The Music Instinct by Philip Ball
How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It
A cross-disciplinary exploration of how music works in the mind and body, blending acoustics, neuroscience, psychology, and cultural history to explain rhythm, harmony, melody, and why certain sounds feel consonant or dissonant. It shows how pattern, prediction, and memory shape emotional response and meaning, challenges popular myths about innate talent and universal musical rules, and examines listening, performance, and creativity through the brain’s appetite for structure and surprise. The result is a grounded, demystifying look at why humans make music and why it matters.
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- Published
- 2010
- Nationality
- British
- Length
- Moderate
- Pages
- 450-500
- Original Language
- English
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