What makes a musical note different from any other sound? How can you tell if you have perfect pitch? Why do 10 violins sound only twice as loud as one? Do your Bob Dylan albums sound better on CD or vinyl? John Powell, a scientist and musician, answers these questions and many more in HOW MUSIC WORKS, an intriguing and original guide to acoustics. In a clear, accessible, and engaging voice, Powell fascinates the reader with his delightful descriptions of the science and psychology lurking beneath the surface of music. With lively discussions of the secrets behind harmony, timbre, keys, chords, loudness, musical composition, and more, HOW MUSIC WORKS will be treasured by music lovers everywhere. The book also includes a CD of examples and exercises from the book.
How Music Works
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this enlightening book, Powell, a British scholar and professor, sets out to explain how we experience music. He selects examples from all manner of disciplines--music composition, simple mathematics, physics, engineering, history--and offers his insights, such as how Bach' s Prelude in C Major is similar to Led Zeppelin' s Stairway to Heaven. In the first half, he defines the elements of music like pitch, frequency, harmony, rhythm, and decibel. Building on this foundation, Powell hits his stride in the book' s second half as he demonstrates, using both classical and pop music, how musicians create sound and how we listen to it. Some of the information can get scientific but Powell conveys the material with enough humor ( I think the decibel was invented in a bar, late one night, by a committee of drunken electrical engineers who wanted to take revenge on the world for their total lack of dancing partners ) and cocktail party facts ( when we listen to Mozart' s music nowadays, we are hearing it a semitone higher than he would have intended ) to keep the book light and fun. Included in the book is a 10-track CD.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"By reading Powell's book we can gain a more solid knowledge of the foundations of music and therefore be better able to appreciate it." (Amanda Mark, New York Journal of Books )
"Any readers whose love of music has somehow not led them to explore the technical side before will surely find the result a thoroughly accessible, and occasionally revelatory, primer." (James Walton, The Spectator )
"In this distinctive combination of scientific treatise and laugh-out-loud commentary, composer and physicist Powell...has carved out an intriguing niche by using humor to enliven what could have been an otherwise dry introduction to acoustics...readers ... should glean some useful background for music study while simultaneously being entertained." (Barry Zaslow, Library Journal )
"Any readers whose love of music has somehow not led them to explore the technical side before will surely find the result a thoroughly accessible, and occasionally revelatory, primer." (James Walton, The Spectator )
"In this distinctive combination of scientific treatise and laugh-out-loud commentary, composer and physicist Powell...has carved out an intriguing niche by using humor to enliven what could have been an otherwise dry introduction to acoustics...readers ... should glean some useful background for music study while simultaneously being entertained." (Barry Zaslow, Library Journal )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
62 of 68 people found the following review helpful
By Karina B
Format:Hardcover
I have always had an aptitude for and interest in science. I am a medical student and am interested in the human brain and how we as humans see the world and interact with our environment.
One thing that I love perhaps as much as science is music. I find it possibly the single best cure for emotional disturbance, especially stress of any kind and have often wondered why this is?
I have noticed that music can have a profound affect on mood and state of mind. Sometimes it brings about nostalgia attached to a memory that I doubt I would remember without the auditory cue. Sometimes it makes me so happy that I walk down the street with my headphones in my ears grinning at passers by, and sometimes it simply brings tears to my eyes. It is certainly a very emotive tool and science in its own right.
When I discovered the book `How Music Works' by John Powell I thought to myself `this might be worth a read!' I certainly was not wrong.
This book does what it says on the tin really. The author uses a scientific approach to explain exactly how music works, without isolating the lay person. He uses examples and analogies we can all relate to, to explain concepts in a logical and understandable manner without compromising on detail and depth of explanation, which in my humble opinion is quite a skill.
The style of writing is witty and light hearted so this book makes for an entertaining as well as interesting and informative read. Several times I found myself subject to a few funny looks on the tube as I laughed out loud whilst reading the book on my daily commute. I also found my self thinking `ok so now I get it!' and listening to music between chapters to put my new found knowledge to the test and matching the newly found concepts in the book to the notes, chords, scales and harmonies I was listening to!
The book covers all aspects of music and the way that it works, including explanations about different instruments and how they create the sound that they do, harmony, scales, the difference between notes and noise, and yes there is physics behind why these differ, why music evokes different emotional responses, rhythm, perfect pitch... and so on! Basically everything you could possibly want to know about the in's and out's of this thing we call music.
Chapter 2 explains what perfect pitch is and also provides the reader with a quick and easy way of assessing whether they themselves have perfect pitch. It's great! You never know, you could have what it takes to be the next Madonna or Michael Jackson.
Chapter 6, how loud is loud is interesting. It explains the system that we have come up with over the years for measuring loudness which is more complicated than you may first think. It also explains why ten instruments sounds only twice as loud as one and why one hundred instruments only sounds four times as loud as one. Yes that's right, it's true. We don't like that though do we? It doesn't make sense. Well as the author correctly points out, six smelly socks aren't six times as smelly as one, and ten salted peanuts in your mouth aren't five times as salty as two (even though you have five times as much salt on your tongue.) After reading this chapter you will see why simply adding more instruments to existing instruments does not add loudness proportionately. The explanation for this involves both the way that sound waves join together as well as why our brains don't add up sounds properly. This, interestingly, relates to survival the avoidance of danger. Our brain will choose what it pays attention to based on how threatening it assesses the noise to be.
This book is well written, well illustrated, entertaining and informative. I whole heartedly recommend it as an excellent read for anyone - whether you're a musician or scientist or both or even if you're neither and just love a good tune! Enjoy.
One thing that I love perhaps as much as science is music. I find it possibly the single best cure for emotional disturbance, especially stress of any kind and have often wondered why this is?
I have noticed that music can have a profound affect on mood and state of mind. Sometimes it brings about nostalgia attached to a memory that I doubt I would remember without the auditory cue. Sometimes it makes me so happy that I walk down the street with my headphones in my ears grinning at passers by, and sometimes it simply brings tears to my eyes. It is certainly a very emotive tool and science in its own right.
When I discovered the book `How Music Works' by John Powell I thought to myself `this might be worth a read!' I certainly was not wrong.
This book does what it says on the tin really. The author uses a scientific approach to explain exactly how music works, without isolating the lay person. He uses examples and analogies we can all relate to, to explain concepts in a logical and understandable manner without compromising on detail and depth of explanation, which in my humble opinion is quite a skill.
The style of writing is witty and light hearted so this book makes for an entertaining as well as interesting and informative read. Several times I found myself subject to a few funny looks on the tube as I laughed out loud whilst reading the book on my daily commute. I also found my self thinking `ok so now I get it!' and listening to music between chapters to put my new found knowledge to the test and matching the newly found concepts in the book to the notes, chords, scales and harmonies I was listening to!
The book covers all aspects of music and the way that it works, including explanations about different instruments and how they create the sound that they do, harmony, scales, the difference between notes and noise, and yes there is physics behind why these differ, why music evokes different emotional responses, rhythm, perfect pitch... and so on! Basically everything you could possibly want to know about the in's and out's of this thing we call music.
Chapter 2 explains what perfect pitch is and also provides the reader with a quick and easy way of assessing whether they themselves have perfect pitch. It's great! You never know, you could have what it takes to be the next Madonna or Michael Jackson.
Chapter 6, how loud is loud is interesting. It explains the system that we have come up with over the years for measuring loudness which is more complicated than you may first think. It also explains why ten instruments sounds only twice as loud as one and why one hundred instruments only sounds four times as loud as one. Yes that's right, it's true. We don't like that though do we? It doesn't make sense. Well as the author correctly points out, six smelly socks aren't six times as smelly as one, and ten salted peanuts in your mouth aren't five times as salty as two (even though you have five times as much salt on your tongue.) After reading this chapter you will see why simply adding more instruments to existing instruments does not add loudness proportionately. The explanation for this involves both the way that sound waves join together as well as why our brains don't add up sounds properly. This, interestingly, relates to survival the avoidance of danger. Our brain will choose what it pays attention to based on how threatening it assesses the noise to be.
This book is well written, well illustrated, entertaining and informative. I whole heartedly recommend it as an excellent read for anyone - whether you're a musician or scientist or both or even if you're neither and just love a good tune! Enjoy.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By micmac
Format:Hardcover
As a scientist and educationalist ( and amateur guitarist) I found this book both useful for background information and also satisfying simply as a good entertaining read.
I like the writing style which leads me gently through the musical and scientific concepts and deposits me at the end of each chapter better informed and eager to put my new found insights into practice.
The videos which accompany this book are also fun and informative.
I like the writing style which leads me gently through the musical and scientific concepts and deposits me at the end of each chapter better informed and eager to put my new found insights into practice.
The videos which accompany this book are also fun and informative.
26 of 30 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent, readable, great for some things but MISLEADING regarding tuning
June 6, 2011
By Aaron Wolf
Format:Hardcover
This is a great accessible book in many ways. Its discussion of instrument acoustics is very clear. With some changes, I would have given it five stars. Unfortunately, the bias about equal temperament is really problematic. Most readers are not equipped to question any of his claims, so it really is unfortunate that Powell actually teaches some incorrect things. His explanation of tuning the pentatonic and major and minor scales is simplistic and wrong.
He uses simple ratios to point out how basic the scales are, but he explains how to get to those ratios in ways that actually have basic mathematical errors. If you use his tuning methods, you will end up at a different tuning than he says you will because his math is simply incorrect. He ignores the details of this because he clearly thought it was just too complex for his intended readers. He appears to be convinced that the compromised equal tempered tuning is the be-all end-all solution for music.
Other ideas are culturally-biased as well. He claims that the goal overall is to be able to transpose and modulate songs among different keys... but most music in most cultures in most of history doesn't care about that. He inserted that goal because it makes his explanation much simpler to claim that ancient Greeks cared about modulation and transposition, even though there's no reason to believe that.
But many sections of this book are superb, and overall it is a worthwhile read (though it's the sort of thing you should be happy getting from your local library, rather than buying it)
I have a much more detailed and nuanced review of this book at my website wolftune.com
He uses simple ratios to point out how basic the scales are, but he explains how to get to those ratios in ways that actually have basic mathematical errors. If you use his tuning methods, you will end up at a different tuning than he says you will because his math is simply incorrect. He ignores the details of this because he clearly thought it was just too complex for his intended readers. He appears to be convinced that the compromised equal tempered tuning is the be-all end-all solution for music.
Other ideas are culturally-biased as well. He claims that the goal overall is to be able to transpose and modulate songs among different keys... but most music in most cultures in most of history doesn't care about that. He inserted that goal because it makes his explanation much simpler to claim that ancient Greeks cared about modulation and transposition, even though there's no reason to believe that.
But many sections of this book are superb, and overall it is a worthwhile read (though it's the sort of thing you should be happy getting from your local library, rather than buying it)
I have a much more detailed and nuanced review of this book at my website wolftune.com
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Music Works
I enjoyed this book which was written well and.in an entertaining manor without overdoing it. As someone reading a non-fiction book for new musical ideas ,I was hoping for more. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Jimmy Olsen
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Music Theory Book You Will Ever Read!
Fantastic book, who would think a music theory book could be laugh outloud funny?, well this book is. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stephen Russell Payne
4.0 out of 5 stars
Does what it says in the title
Having read David Byrne's How Music Works over Christmas, which deals largely with how music works on an emotional and cultural level and how the music industry works Mr Powell's... Read more
Published 1 month ago by TablePourDeux
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Music Works
I recommend this to ALL my students. I have taught music privately for many years and THIS is one of the most important books that has come along. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jesse405
5.0 out of 5 stars
Informative and lots of fun
I considered giving this book four stars, but am giving it five just because of the laughs. The author's writing is good-natured and funny throughout, and I had a couple of... Read more
Published 2 months ago by jemmus
2.0 out of 5 stars
Where's the Beat?
It is surprisingly disappointing to read a book explaining "How Music Works" that doesn't say much about rhythm. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Robin
3.0 out of 5 stars
still not appealing enough to the layperson
I have studied music through performance (from piano, to voice, to saxophone, to Javanese gamelan... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Urs
4.0 out of 5 stars
good intro to music theory
As a novice with no formal musical training who started singing in a Church choir, I found this book to be interesting and informative. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Philip Morrissey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book For Curious Musical Neophytes
As the title says, this is a book about how music works -- but about how it works in physical sense, not in an artistic or emotional sense. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Anne Mills
5.0 out of 5 stars
easy-to-understand and fascinating -- a must for all composers
My mom's an amateur composer and I read this in hopes of answering some of her pressing questions:
1) Which key and time signatures should I choose? Read more
1) Which key and time signatures should I choose? Read more
Published 6 months ago by sparky_magic_rainbow
