This Is Your Brain On Music

 This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, by Daniel J. Levitin, 333 pages

I think I read this maybe a decade ago, but thought it would be a good intro to the science of music to our reading group. Now it's twenty years old and, while still a good introduction, the book could stand an updated re-issue. Other than being too clinical at times or not enough far-reaching, most folks appreciated the "nuggets" of interesting information. For example, the area of a violin players brain that is responsible for left hand coordination will be slightly larger than a non-player--due to their constant practice.  There was some debate as to music being more than just a series of sensory inputs interpreted by the brain--specifically how music also has far reaching effect on other systems in our body--but most of that is missing here. The first chapter is a quick tutorial on how music theory actually works. This is primarily how our brains process music and where in our brains we think it lives. I think some of the questions this book raises are probably answered now or at least we have some good theories about them. For example, the author mentions that they could take MRI's of a performers brain during a performance (because they have to move when they perform) but we can definitely do that now. But at the time, this was probably the best book on the subject designed for popular reading--musicians and non-musicians alike. We don't think about sounds hitting our ears as vibrating molecules but that's exactly what they are--vibrating to certain frequencies that our ears pick up and our brains interpret. Still, as a reader and musician, I was able to pick-up on concepts in this book that I missed out on the first time. Recommended for adults and science-savvy older teens. 

A Little Devil in America

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib (2021) 301 pages

I listened to the audiobook through Libby narrated by JD Jackson. I listened to it ahead of Kevin's Rhythm & Books bookclub, so I don't want to give too many details. Each essay on different types of black performance (not necessarily related to music) is deeply felt. The author's prose are sometimes a rap of his reflections and feelings. Abdurraqib intricately examines American culture and the Black experience.
 

Uncommon Measures

 Uncommon Measures, by Natalie Hodges, 224 pgs, 2022

A great piece of memoir writing that tracks the author's failed dreams of becoming a first-rate, solo violinist alongside some of the most recent scientific breakthroughs as they apply to music and our perception of time. Hodges recounts her struggle with performance anxiety, practicing difficult classical pieces over and over again, only to miss notes during the execution. She also touches on her Asian-American heritage growing up with a "tiger" mom, dancing Tango to unlearn her fear of performance, and ultimately accepting that the grand musician's dream she once held for herself must go unrealized. Along the way, she introduces us to several scientific studies regarding how the musicians brain operates during times of improvisation, how entrainment works to help us move to a beat and how unburdening your mind from the physics of time allows people to enter a "flow state." Of interest to anyone inclined towards classical music, performance, or even sports--a heartfelt and vulnerable work that covers an often unviewed aspect of the artist life. 

Listen to this playlist of all of the music mentioned throughout the book.