How Music Works, John Powell
How Music Works, John Powell
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How Music Works
The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyond

Author: John Powell

Narrator: Walter Dixon

Unabridged: 8 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 11/24/2010

Categories: Nonfiction, Music


Synopsis

An Enthralling Investigation Into The Mysteries Of Music

Have you ever wondered how off-key you are while singing in the shower? Or if your Bob Dylan albums really sound better on vinyl? Or why certain songs make you cry?

Now, scientist and musician John Powell invites you on an entertaining journey through the world of music. Discover what distinguishes music from plain old noise, how scales help you memorize songs, what the humble recorder teaches you about timbre (assuming your suffering listeners don’t break it first), why anyone can learn to play a musical instrument, what the absurdly complicated names of classical music pieces actually mean, how musical notes came to be (hint: you can thank a group of stodgy men in 1939 London for that one), how to make an oboe from a drinking straw, and much more. With wit and charm, and in the simplest terms, Powell explains the science and psychology of music.

Clever, informative, and deeply engaging, How Music Works takes the secrets of music away from the world of badly dressed academics and gives every one of us—whether we love to sing or play air guitar—the means to enhance our listening pleasure.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jill

You know that physics teacher you had that one time? That really dorky British guy with the seriously twisted sense of dry humor, left-field analogies that actually helped you understand, and killer taste in music? Well, guess what? He wrote a book! And it's this one! Yeah! Of course I didn't have Jo......more

Goodreads review by Jeff

John Powell's How Music Works is hands-down the best introduction to music theory that I've ever read, and I've tried reading more than one! Powell manages to convey a considerable amount of information in a wonderfully breezy and conversational format. The author has a background in physics, and di......more