≡ Read Free The Music Instinct How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It Philip Ball 9781847920881 Books

The Music Instinct How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It Philip Ball 9781847920881 Books

Download As PDF : The Music Instinct How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It Philip Ball 9781847920881 Books

The Music Instinct How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It Philip Ball 9781847920881 Books

This is but one of recent books written on music and its importance to humans, but it is unique in its sweeping analysis of music across very different human societies. Ball has a broad understanding of sociology and anthropology and brings it to bear upon an always fascinating subject, and an important one. Recommended without reservation.


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The Music Instinct How Music Works and Why We Can't Do Without It Philip Ball 9781847920881 Books Reviews

The Music Instinct is a substantial work but quite imperfect. It is simply not accessible to lay readers without music notation and terminology knowledge. It is not substantial enough for advanced theorists. It is a book for the few people somewhere in the middle who are trained in music somewhat but have questions about its inherent nature. Ball does a remarkable job of bringing together a lot of the most current research, but he fails to quite make it work as a complete unit.
I agree largely with the other reviews here by George Erdosh and by Michael Tenzer (though I think Ball's attacks on Deryck Cooke are justified and seem not driven by any vendetta but rather by Ball's disagreement with Cooke's approach; Cooke is used as an example of an outdated and misguided attitude which Ball contrasts with the newer attitudes today).

On my blog, I've written a thorough review of this book. See my comment below.
In general the book presents an excellent introduction to music elements in an intuitive but yet scientific way without wading too much into theory. It resorts often to different viewpoints or explanations for the same phenomenon, which makes it friendly for an interested beginner. Further it has a plethora of good illustrations with musical works.
Chapter 3 is a compact elucidation of the phenomenon of sounds, frequencies and tonal rules done in a very intuitive manner. It is a must for the interested music listener. Although I knew the music theory when starting reading it, it shed some insight on the mathematics behind, enriching the big picture.
Chapter 4 is somewhat more elaborate and analyses why melodies have effect on the listener and what are the unwritten rules of composing melodies to be assimilated as genuine. It introduces concepts such as intervals.
Chapter 6 is of somewhat dual complexity On the one side, it points out some basic perceptional truths for example about dissonance, which is definitely interesting for the music beginner who wants to know further than the absolute basics. On the other side it elaborates on harmony to a rather advanced degree Presents almost the big picture of harmonic relations and cadences.
Chapter 7 and 8 present some basic observations on two of the aspects of music timbre and rhythm. I find them conveying the most important messages for a compact introduction into the matter for a non-music expert reader.
All the rest are chapters in which the author argues about different views on rather ambiguous more high-level topics. One that like is chapter 11 about musical style.
I'm a music prof. looking for a good text to use for a new course open to the general student that does not place music in any of its old boxes like culture, identity, "art", and so on...something that treats music as the kaleidoscope it is. That includes of course culture and art, but also math, biology, cognition, imagination, and more. I found what I'm looking for here Ball's "Music Instinct" is comprehensible, thorough, and wide ranging. It was not perfect, sometimes elliptical and hung up on details, laced with venom for old-time musicologist Deryck Cooke (for some reason--must be some kind of vendetta) and I wished some of the later chapters had come earlier and vice versa. But there is so much wonderful information and it is brilliantly conveyed most of the time. There is an extremely refreshing love and unprejudiced openness to all music of the world, ample examples from diverse places and times, and still with a sophisticated appreciation for the Western art tradition. Ball embodies the 21st century musical omnivore that so many of us have become, and he has found a way to explain music holistically that I personally believe models the kind of undergraduate music education we should be striving to offer.
I love music, period. Phillip Ball's approach to music is as an abstract mathematical exercise with an intellectual bent to music as a subject to be studied and broken down into specific pieces of data. I tried to like this book, but not that hard - the author slices and dices every aspect of musical experience in a very detailed and plausible way that is, I suppose, very rigorous and analytical.

If that's what you want to know about music, have at it. Not me.

FEU
This book was fascinating, thought-provoking, and well-written. I bought it after having taken it out of my wonderful public library, because it's worth re-reading.
Historical and scientific analyses in the first half interested me but semantic consideration in the last felt a bit redundant and lengthy.
Got this for a class at Cal as a music major. Found it far more than an excellent text. It puts the import of music into a full perspective.
This is but one of recent books written on music and its importance to humans, but it is unique in its sweeping analysis of music across very different human societies. Ball has a broad understanding of sociology and anthropology and brings it to bear upon an always fascinating subject, and an important one. Recommended without reservation.