“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”
Ludwig van Beethoven
Chapter 2 takes the reader on a focused dive into music neuroscience, the scientific study of the musical interaction of sound waves with the brain. As it makes use of technical language at times, the general reader is invited to skip this chapter for now (but strongly advised to return to it after completing the rest of the book). Chapter 2 begins by briefly reviewing key events – and key players in those events – that led to our modern understanding of how the brain works. In a nutshell: general categories of brain function are determined by genes but each person’s specific brain abilities are acquired through learning. The chapter then hones in on how the brain processes music, first by highlighting rhythm and melody. Brain areas essential for rhythm and melody are named, accompanied by helpful drawings to locate them. Deeper levels of the brain are then surveyed as we consider how music arouses sentiments in regions that are inaccessible to consciousness and how these emotions and feelings come into our conscious awareness. Structures underpinning the special qualities of musical memory are then considered. The chapter concludes by reviewing how extensively music activates the brain.