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Chapter 6
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“To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins…Do you feel your music?” Michael Jackson Prior to the appearance of recorded music late in the 19th century, most people participated in making music in one way or another. Now, however, passive consumption of music, rather than active engagement with it,…
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Chapter 5
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“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.” Billy Joel Music improves our quality of life is the focus of Chapter 5. One of the principal ways music accomplishes this by its ability to…
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Chapter 4
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“I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity, to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.” Paul McCartney Continuing with the theme of evolution’s impact, Chapter 4…
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Chapter 3
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“Music is a universal language, and needs not be translated. With it, soul speaks to soul.” Berthold Auerbach We now enter the core section of the book: The Evolutionary Impact of Music on the Brain. Chapter 3 explores the brain’s innate capacities for music, skills so fundamental and beneficial that they have become embedded within…
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Chapter 2
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“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…
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Chapter 1
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“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Friedrich Nietzsche The book’s first section, A Musical Brain, opens by presenting basic concepts about music and about the brain, emphasizing that music results from the interaction of sound waves with the brain. Music has had a profound impact upon human beings, shaping our brains to be music-ready…