Why we LOVE Music
I won’t make it a long one but I came across this in my usual music book reading… And it brought so much value. I think it will to you too! This is Why we Love Music - The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds by Dr. John Powell.
Because you know I often speak about how music feels, what it sounds like to me as far as an action or a place in space and time… vs anything technical, I found this a beautiful tool to give some weight to those feelings. When I saw this book, I had to have it. I’m pretty sure I picked it up at the Royal Albert Hall when I went to see YES last year!
Why We Love Music - This one was so interesting to me, it gets into the science of why music feels so good to listen to. As mentioned, I will often speak about how music makes me feel. Not really about the skill of the player or the singer. I know I can’t always speak to technique, and I know I couldn’t pick a lot up of what others do. However, this book does a wonderful job of explaining why music feels a certain way, why we connect so deeply with it and as mentioned - just the whole science of music. It is a must read if you love music, or if you are a musician! It does honestly blow my mind how much of a science there is, but also that it affirms the reasons we do connect so deeply.
He also goes into how for example - minor chords in the Western World usually signify a sad song, but in other cultures, they are known to be happy chords. It’s fascinating that our perceptions are so different across the world. Also how we intuitively can guess what will happen next in a song - and if it strays, it can only stray so much before we note the track as trash. This can also explain why music sometimes grows on us after a few listens after it becomes more familiar. It also gives an a great brief overview of music theory, octaves, tones, frequencies and more if that is something you’d like to learn a little bit about.
I really recommend this book if you’re a musician crafting new songs, or you want to understand the science behind music and why you can’t get enough.. this book is definitely for you.
Get it here:
See you next week!
#musiclover #songwriting #creativity #music #creativegrowth #expressyourself #bookreview