Music / Instruction & Study Books

Cognitive scientist Dr. Daniel Levitin is a leading expert in auditory pattern processing, and has lent his specialized knowledge to both government agencies and rock bands in pursuit of sound clarity. Levitin is also a musician, record producer, and diehard rock fan, and in this fascinating book, he seamlessly blends his musical and scientific expertise by attempting to answer the important questions: What makes music so compelling to humans? How and why did our brains evolve to create and understand this phenomenon? Why do certain chord progressions make us sad and others make us feel uplifted? Levitin answers these questions in an engaging style that is informed by both knowledge and love of the subject. This 2006 release finds him well on the way to becoming a pop science favorite in the ranks of Stephen Pinker and Brian Greene.

In expatriate Thad Carhart's fascinating memoir, he gets to know a man who repairs and sells pianos and becomes a regular at his small, eccentric shop in Paris. Then Carhart, an amateur pianist in his youth, buys a piano himself, begins taking lessons, and finds his life transformed by music, friendship, and the ineffably lovable French-ness of his Left Bank milieu.