The music instinct
Subtitle: how music works and why we can't do without it
By: Philip Ball
Publisher: Bodley Head
Published: 2010
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 452
ISBN-13: 9781847920881
Subjects: Social aspects; Music; Music and science; Philosophy and aesthetics; Psychological aspects
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [425]-442) and index.
Table of contents: title: Prelude : The harmonious universe. An introduction; title: Overture : Why we sing. What is music and where does it come from?; title: Staccato : The atoms of music. What are musical notes and how do we decide which to use?; title: Andante : What's in a tune? Do melodies follow rules, and if so, which?; title: Legato : Keeping it together. How do we decode the sound?; title: Tutti : All together now. How do we use more than one note at a time?; title: Con moto : Slave to the rhythm. What gives music its pulse?; title: Pizzicato : The colour of music. Why do instruments sound different, and how does that affect the music?; title: Misterioso : All in the mind. Which bits of the brain do we use for music?; title: Appassionatio : Light my fire, How does music convey and elicit emotion?; title: Capriccioso : Going in and out of style. What are musical styles? Is music about notes, or patterns, or textures?; title: Parlando : Why music talks to us. Is music a language? Or is it closer ot the non-verbal arts?; title: Serioso : The meaning of music. What are composers and musicians trying to say? Can music in itself say anything at all?; title: Coda : The condition of music.