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Reviews
Why You Love Music: From Mozart to Metallica--The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds by John Powell
lucilleowen's review
sad
slow-paced
Horrid! Bad writing, bad examples, bad EVERYTHING!!! Now, I don’t like to give bad reviews, but this book is so terribly bad. Don’t spend your time reading!!!
kayleefromband's review
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
I could have read an entire book on the last few pages about music and brain chemistry. Also I love music.
mike__m's review
3.0
Powell's book fulfills its intended purpose as a light and popular exploration of the psychological and sociological aspects of music. Personally, and unlike many readers here, I found the second half, where Powell discusses the intersection of physiology and musicology, to be the most interesting. I'm neither a musician nor a musicologist, so his explanation of Just and Equal Temperament was the first time the topic made sense to me. Also very satisfying was his plain and accessible assertion of why Serialism sucks, and his near-suggestion that movie music and minimalism saved classical music from the horrors of the Second Viennese School: now, considering my listening history, I can see why Koyaanisqatsi and The Draughtsman's Contract are such memorable movies for me. In the same chapter, he recounts his discovery of the music George Lloyd -- a nice touch, for an out-of-fashion composer who deserves more rediscovery.
As for the humor: I like it; I seem to share with the author a fundamentally humorous view of the world. He's at his best when the humor is integral to his discussion (for example, comparing his efforts at composing a tune according to the "rules" to a "hymn for the patron saint of porridge manufacturers"); the jokes only seem to overreach when they appear as zingers tacked on at the end of some sections.
In all, although I still don't understand why Baskery, Babymetal and Buxtehude can coexist in one playlist, I recommended this book for non-experts who've already given some thought to why they love music.
As for the humor: I like it; I seem to share with the author a fundamentally humorous view of the world. He's at his best when the humor is integral to his discussion (for example, comparing his efforts at composing a tune according to the "rules" to a "hymn for the patron saint of porridge manufacturers"); the jokes only seem to overreach when they appear as zingers tacked on at the end of some sections.
In all, although I still don't understand why Baskery, Babymetal and Buxtehude can coexist in one playlist, I recommended this book for non-experts who've already given some thought to why they love music.
davidr's review
5.0
This is the 55'th book I have read about music. It is, without a doubt, the most engaging and most enjoyable book about music that I have read. It is not about music per se, rather it is about the psychology of listening to music. I love it.
The book opens with an interesting statistical correlation linking personality types to different music genres. Then the book describes a fascinating experiment, where different types of music were played in a supermarket, to understand the influence on wine purchases. German music induced greater sales of German wines, while French music induced purchases of French wines. Classical music induced more sales of expensive wines. Wine taste tests showed that playing heavy or light music induced subjective observations of wines being "heavy" or "light". In restaurants, slow music induces slower bites and greater spending on drinks.
The book describes seven basic psychological mechanisms for producing emotions through music. These seven mechanisms can be useful for survival in non-musical contexts. The unstated implicit deduction is that perhaps evolution, in furthering survival, also plays a hand in generating emotional responses to music.
The book describes how we like music that has repetitions. Music with repetitions is much more memorable, and sets up a context for unexpected contrasts.
Music has been proven to be a good therapy for many physical and mental disorders--so long as the patient chooses the music. Without the benefit of choice, music can be detrimental. The so-called "Mozart Effect" works by putting you into an enjoyable state of mind. Any upbeat music or even listening to a Stephen King can potentially have the same effect.
What surprised me, was a statistical analysis that found there is no correlation between music skills and mathematical ability. It is difficult to figure out cause and effect between music skills and intelligence. There are no strong correlations. Musically-trained people have better listening skills, a better memory for things heard, better language ability, and better visuo-spatial skills. There is some evidence that musical training does lead to a slight increase in IQ.
Film soundtracks have been shown to influence viewers, changing their opinions of the characters. Sometimes music alone is more effective than the dialogue in getting a desired message across.
I was flabbergasted to read that in 2015, the song "Happy Birthday" was ruled not to be under copyright. It is the most-sung song ever.
There is an interesting chapter on counterpoint--although for some reason, that term is not used. The chapter describes how the mind sorts out melodies, when multiple melodies are playing.
Most of all, I loved the humor that shines through everywhere in the book. As one example, Sir Thomas Beecham described the harpsichord as sounding like "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof during a thunderstorm." Well, maybe this isn't the best example, but the humor puts me into a wonderful frame of mind for reading this excellent book.
The book opens with an interesting statistical correlation linking personality types to different music genres. Then the book describes a fascinating experiment, where different types of music were played in a supermarket, to understand the influence on wine purchases. German music induced greater sales of German wines, while French music induced purchases of French wines. Classical music induced more sales of expensive wines. Wine taste tests showed that playing heavy or light music induced subjective observations of wines being "heavy" or "light". In restaurants, slow music induces slower bites and greater spending on drinks.
The book describes seven basic psychological mechanisms for producing emotions through music. These seven mechanisms can be useful for survival in non-musical contexts. The unstated implicit deduction is that perhaps evolution, in furthering survival, also plays a hand in generating emotional responses to music.
The book describes how we like music that has repetitions. Music with repetitions is much more memorable, and sets up a context for unexpected contrasts.
Music has been proven to be a good therapy for many physical and mental disorders--so long as the patient chooses the music. Without the benefit of choice, music can be detrimental. The so-called "Mozart Effect" works by putting you into an enjoyable state of mind. Any upbeat music or even listening to a Stephen King can potentially have the same effect.
What surprised me, was a statistical analysis that found there is no correlation between music skills and mathematical ability. It is difficult to figure out cause and effect between music skills and intelligence. There are no strong correlations. Musically-trained people have better listening skills, a better memory for things heard, better language ability, and better visuo-spatial skills. There is some evidence that musical training does lead to a slight increase in IQ.
Film soundtracks have been shown to influence viewers, changing their opinions of the characters. Sometimes music alone is more effective than the dialogue in getting a desired message across.
I was flabbergasted to read that in 2015, the song "Happy Birthday" was ruled not to be under copyright. It is the most-sung song ever.
There is an interesting chapter on counterpoint--although for some reason, that term is not used. The chapter describes how the mind sorts out melodies, when multiple melodies are playing.
Most of all, I loved the humor that shines through everywhere in the book. As one example, Sir Thomas Beecham described the harpsichord as sounding like "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof during a thunderstorm." Well, maybe this isn't the best example, but the humor puts me into a wonderful frame of mind for reading this excellent book.
livthereader's review
5.0
A phenomenal read! I was so enticed by all of Powell’s outlay of information intertwined with his humour. Definitely worth the read - especially if you’re a musician or have a keen interest in music.
kenyuen1's review
4.0
Pretty neat book covering music as a topic. One problem I have with psych stuff is that sometimes stuff I learn feels so intuitive that I'm not sure if I'm really picking up on anything novel.
I did skip the fiddly more technical bits toward the end.
I did skip the fiddly more technical bits toward the end.
efbeckett's review
2.0
Occasionally amusing, and it successfully helped me grasp some concepts I've previously found elusive, but I frequently zoned out during much of the second half and I don't really understand why I love music any better than I did before.
elisability's review
3.0
In this non-fiction book, John Powell explains the physics behind music, and all the things that tug at our heartstrings when we hear particular songs. We learn how music can influence our emotions, and how our brain is an absolutely unbelievably wonderful thing for being able to understand music at all. We learn that hearing our car turn signal going "tick-tock" is an illusion, and I am now obsessed with this.
It is in parts a bit of a dry subject (learning about scales, octaves, hertz and relative frequencies), but Powell inserts shots of humour regularly throughout his writing, so it's never terrible to read. I never felt like giving up on it (though full disclosure, I did not read the annexes).
Plus he introduced me to this wonderful bird, so 5 stars just to that video!
It is in parts a bit of a dry subject (learning about scales, octaves, hertz and relative frequencies), but Powell inserts shots of humour regularly throughout his writing, so it's never terrible to read. I never felt like giving up on it (though full disclosure, I did not read the annexes).
Plus he introduced me to this wonderful bird, so 5 stars just to that video!