Musicophilia

missingsince1983 · 07-10-2007, 07:00 PM

I heard about this book coming out later this year which some people here may be interested in considering all the self described audiophiles at this forum. Maybe not but anyway I thought I'd post it here with a description. It's called Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks (a neurologist).

Quote:

What goes on in human beings when they make or listen to music? What is it about music, what gives it such peculiar power over us, power delectable and beneficent for the most part, but also capable of uncontrollable and sometimes destructive force? Music has no concepts, it lacks images; it has no power of representation, it has no relation to the world. And yet it is evident in all of us–we tap our feet, we keep time, hum, sing, conduct music, mirror the melodic contours and feelings of what we hear in our movements and expressions.

In this book, Oliver Sacks explores the power music wields over us–a power that sometimes we control and at other times don’t. He explores, in his inimitable fashion, how it can provide access to otherwise unreachable emotional states, how it can revivify neurological avenues that have been frozen, evoke memories of earlier, lost events or states or bring those with neurological disorders back to a time when the world was much richer.
This is a book that explores, like no other, the myriad dimensions of our experience of and with music.

http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-T.../dp/1400040817

HenriPoincare · 07-10-2007, 07:05 PM

We here at KMA are not a public billboard created for peo...
Just Kidding! Looks pretty cool.

MusicMan · 07-10-2007, 08:36 PM

I think I actually may get this, and I don't read much, much less buy many books. We who feel the effects of music can describe in our own words to a limited degree how it affects us. But it would be cool to read the words of a neurologist who appears as though he was strongly compelled to investigate this matter. Hopefully it won't be a dry read filled with jargon way over my head, but I'll take a chance that he stumbles upon some interesting theories and physiological explanations for what for centuries has been nearly impossible to define.

Thanks for the info

missingsince1983 · 07-10-2007, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MusicMan

I think I actually may get this, and I don't read much, much less buy many books. We who feel the effects of music can describe in our own words to a limited degree how it affects us. But it would be cool to read the words of a neurologist who appears as though he was strongly compelled to investigate this matter. Hopefully it won't be a dry read filled with jargon way over my head, but I'll take a chance that he stumbles upon some interesting theories and physiological explanations for what for centuries has been nearly impossible to define.

Thanks for the info

I got another book by him a few weeks ago (recommended by the psychology department at school) called The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat which is a collection of case studies. I haven't had chance to read much yet but so far it's not too bad for jargon. I normally read in bed though when I'm falling asleep and it's a difficult book to read without being fully awake and concentrating. The case in the title is about a brilliant music professor who cannot recognise visual objects or people and the second story is about a man who has no memories since 1945 (at the time it was 1975). As the condition is incurable, all they could do was try to reach him in other ways. One way was through music.

Aqualung · 07-11-2007, 12:27 AM

Wow, that looks really, really good. I'm always very intrerested in the physiology of the brain, and that plus music = win.

missingsince1983 · 11-19-2007, 11:49 PM

Just saw this in my subscribed threads and remembered the book was coming out around this time of year. So I thought I'd bump the thread to let people know it's now out. I think it's been out a month or so now.

Aqualung · 11-20-2007, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by missingsince1983

Just saw this in my subscribed threads and remembered the book was coming out around this time of year. So I thought I'd bump the thread to let people know it's now out. I think it's been out a month or so now.

Yeah, I've been eyeing it myself. I'm going to wait till it has been out longer though and either get it from a library or get it cheaper than it's at now. But I'm really looking forward to reading it. I actually got a couple of his books over the summer and he's a really good writer.

The Coker Variations · 11-20-2007, 02:34 PM

glad you bumped this, i think il definetly check it out, in fact i just ordered it, if no-one has done a review by the time i have got it and read it i sure will, looks very interesting,

speaking of book reviews, we should have a place in the forum for such things maybe? because i know alot of creative people love books and are well inspired by them, i know i am, and we can share some favs

Aqualung · 11-20-2007, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Coker Variations

glad you bumped this, i think il definetly check it out, in fact i just ordered it, if no-one has done a review by the time i have got it and read it i sure will, looks very interesting,

speaking of book reviews, we should have a place in the forum for such things maybe? because i know alot of creative people love books and are well inspired by them, i know i am, and we can share some favs

I'll be writing a book review in the Music Reviews section just as soon as I finish the book I'm reading. (Don't worry, it's not the same one.) That's where I think it should go.

Aqualung · 01-17-2008, 04:45 AM

Well, I finished reading this book and it was really good. It talked about a lot of different ways people with different neurological abilities experience music. Some of the things I really liked in the book:

Perfect pitch - It gave this really neat analogy for people with perfect pitch. It said that for people with perfect pitch, not having perfect pitch was just completely weird. Not being able to recognise, for example, a B without having a C and an A being played seemed similar to them as not being able to recognise the colour blue without first being shown what red looks like. The book also said that perfect pitch meant that notes and keys had their own special sort of quality to them, and that therefore if a song that they had always heard in a certain key was transposed to another key it would sound weird and disturbing. It also mentioned that intonated languages like Chinese had a higher percentage of people with perfect pitch than non-intonated languages like English, leading to a hypothesis that all children are born with perfect pitch but it must be or just is surpressed in some children because having perfect pitch would be too confusing (imagine if "dog" and "DOG!" meant two different things because they were intonated differently).

Musical Savantism - the book gave some pretty interesting studies of people with autism who displayed extraordinary musical skills.

Emotional attachment and detachment - Musicophilia talked about a number of disorders that caused emotional attachment or detachment from music. Wilson's diseas was discussed highly, which is disease that gives children really low IQs, but with extraordinary social, linguistic, and musical skills. Almost all children born with this disease love music and making music. It also talked about unspecific disorderst that lead to a complete emotional detachment to music. People who listened to music really didn't care about what they were hearing. On the very end of that spectrum, there were people who heard music similar to one might hear the clanging of pots and pans.

It also talked about a number of other things less in depth, like how music effects parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's diseas, and Tourrette's syndrom. It's really quite a fascinating book for people who like neurology and music, and it's really well written for any lay-person's consumption.

The Coker Variations · 01-17-2008, 05:30 AM

I got this book a while ago and was going to write a review myself but unfortunately I only got half way through before I got distracted by some other books that I really really wanted to read. But up to that point what I had read so far was very very good and it was difficult to put down. I'll have to finish reading it now but I definitely recommend it to anybody with an interest in music and how it can affect people.

missingsince1983 · 01-18-2008, 07:00 PM

Thanks for that Aqua. It sounds really good. I have no time to read at the moment - lots of exams and coursework

(which is also why I haven't been around much in the past week or so and will be busy for the next few weeks as well). Shame really, I got a couple of books for christmas I've barely looked at yet (one on psychology, one on philosophy).

Stringbender · 01-18-2008, 08:20 PM

Sounds REALLY cool- I'll have to check it out (think i have a gift card for Borders books from Christmas around someplace..) right now am reading How To Think Like Da Vinci and a couple travel books (for vacation planning) so any new book will be in amongst "the magnificent seven" (being the seven different books that pile up on my reading list at any given time..I usually have all of them going at the same time and jump around) -now- you're reading my ramble and seeing what is written above- maybe one of you can diagnose me..brilliant-but musically insane?? Wonder how I would wind up classified..
(and please..i work customer service lines for the County gub'ment- I have ENOUGH people classifying me as a##hole!)

Aqualung · 01-19-2008, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stringbender

Sounds REALLY cool- I'll have to check it out (think i have a gift card for Borders books from Christmas around someplace..) right now am reading How To Think Like Da Vinci and a couple travel books (for vacation planning) so any new book will be in amongst "the magnificent seven" (being the seven different books that pile up on my reading list at any given time..I usually have all of them going at the same time and jump around) -now- you're reading my ramble and seeing what is written above- maybe one of you can diagnose me..brilliant-but musically insane?? Wonder how I would wind up classified..
(and please..i work customer service lines for the County gub'ment- I have ENOUGH people classifying me as a##hole!)

Brilliant? Erm...

Stringbender · 01-22-2008, 05:38 PM

Ok- I'm just as stoopid and krayzee as everybody else..LOL. But I AM here at THIS forum- so that's an obvious show of SOME decent intellect!

Aqualung · 01-23-2008, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stringbender

Ok- I'm just as stoopid and krayzee as everybody else..LOL. But I AM here at THIS forum- so that's an obvious show of SOME decent intellect!

Lol. True dat.

07-10-2007, 08:36 PM	#3
MusicMan "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." - Voltaire Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Inside your head Posts: 7,662 Thanks: 570 Thanked 482 Times in 423 Posts Rep Power: 500	I think I actually may get this, and I don't read much, much less buy many books. We who feel the effects of music can describe in our own words to a limited degree how it affects us. But it would be cool to read the words of a neurologist who appears as though he was strongly compelled to investigate this matter. Hopefully it won't be a dry read filled with jargon way over my head, but I'll take a chance that he stumbles upon some interesting theories and physiological explanations for what for centuries has been nearly impossible to define. Thanks for the info __________________ Rules! A definite must-read The Music Showcase is the best place to share your music here, you can even embed Youtube videos. Send me a PM if you need any help with anything.

07-11-2007, 12:27 AM	#5
Aqualung Pshaw! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Washington Posts: 11,539 Thanks: 527 Thanked 731 Times in 684 Posts Rep Power: 276	Wow, that looks really, really good. I'm always very intrerested in the physiology of the brain, and that plus music = win. __________________ Here we go. Mushu cereal for breakfast with duck sauce.

11-19-2007, 11:49 PM	#6
missingsince1983 Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change. Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Yorkshire, England Posts: 741 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 51 Posts Rep Power: 77	Just saw this in my subscribed threads and remembered the book was coming out around this time of year. So I thought I'd bump the thread to let people know it's now out. I think it's been out a month or so now. __________________ Vote for Song of the Week! This week's winner: The Funeral by Band of Horses

11-20-2007, 02:34 PM	#8
The Coker Variations Official Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 279 Thanks: 21 Thanked 37 Times in 28 Posts Rep Power: 56	glad you bumped this, i think il definetly check it out, in fact i just ordered it, if no-one has done a review by the time i have got it and read it i sure will, looks very interesting, speaking of book reviews, we should have a place in the forum for such things maybe? because i know alot of creative people love books and are well inspired by them, i know i am, and we can share some favs __________________ It comes to us all, It's as soft as your pillow Last edited by The Coker Variations : 11-20-2007 at 02:43 PM.

01-17-2008, 04:45 AM	#10
Aqualung Pshaw! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Washington Posts: 11,539 Thanks: 527 Thanked 731 Times in 684 Posts Rep Power: 276	Well, I finished reading this book and it was really good. It talked about a lot of different ways people with different neurological abilities experience music. Some of the things I really liked in the book: Perfect pitch - It gave this really neat analogy for people with perfect pitch. It said that for people with perfect pitch, not having perfect pitch was just completely weird. Not being able to recognise, for example, a B without having a C and an A being played seemed similar to them as not being able to recognise the colour blue without first being shown what red looks like. The book also said that perfect pitch meant that notes and keys had their own special sort of quality to them, and that therefore if a song that they had always heard in a certain key was transposed to another key it would sound weird and disturbing. It also mentioned that intonated languages like Chinese had a higher percentage of people with perfect pitch than non-intonated languages like English, leading to a hypothesis that all children are born with perfect pitch but it must be or just is surpressed in some children because having perfect pitch would be too confusing (imagine if "dog" and "DOG!" meant two different things because they were intonated differently). Musical Savantism - the book gave some pretty interesting studies of people with autism who displayed extraordinary musical skills. Emotional attachment and detachment - Musicophilia talked about a number of disorders that caused emotional attachment or detachment from music. Wilson's diseas was discussed highly, which is disease that gives children really low IQs, but with extraordinary social, linguistic, and musical skills. Almost all children born with this disease love music and making music. It also talked about unspecific disorderst that lead to a complete emotional detachment to music. People who listened to music really didn't care about what they were hearing. On the very end of that spectrum, there were people who heard music similar to one might hear the clanging of pots and pans. It also talked about a number of other things less in depth, like how music effects parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's diseas, and Tourrette's syndrom. It's really quite a fascinating book for people who like neurology and music, and it's really well written for any lay-person's consumption. __________________ Here we go. Mushu cereal for breakfast with duck sauce.

07-10-2007, 07:05 PM	#2
HenriPoincare Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 29 Thanks: 2 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts Rep Power: 41	We here at KMA are not a public billboard created for peo... Just Kidding! Looks pretty cool.

01-17-2008, 05:30 AM	#11
The Coker Variations Official Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 279 Thanks: 21 Thanked 37 Times in 28 Posts Rep Power: 56	I got this book a while ago and was going to write a review myself but unfortunately I only got half way through before I got distracted by some other books that I really really wanted to read. But up to that point what I had read so far was very very good and it was difficult to put down. I'll have to finish reading it now but I definitely recommend it to anybody with an interest in music and how it can affect people. __________________ It comes to us all, It's as soft as your pillow

01-18-2008, 07:00 PM	#12
missingsince1983 Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change. Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Yorkshire, England Posts: 741 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 51 Posts Rep Power: 77	Thanks for that Aqua. It sounds really good. I have no time to read at the moment - lots of exams and coursework (which is also why I haven't been around much in the past week or so and will be busy for the next few weeks as well). Shame really, I got a couple of books for christmas I've barely looked at yet (one on psychology, one on philosophy). __________________ Vote for Song of the Week! This week's winner: The Funeral by Band of Horses

01-18-2008, 08:20 PM	#13
Stringbender Guitar Adept Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: whispered in dark corners Posts: 1,776 Thanks: 289 Thanked 218 Times in 188 Posts Rep Power: 146	Sounds REALLY cool- I'll have to check it out (think i have a gift card for Borders books from Christmas around someplace..) right now am reading How To Think Like Da Vinci and a couple travel books (for vacation planning) so any new book will be in amongst "the magnificent seven" (being the seven different books that pile up on my reading list at any given time..I usually have all of them going at the same time and jump around) -now- you're reading my ramble and seeing what is written above- maybe one of you can diagnose me..brilliant-but musically insane?? Wonder how I would wind up classified.. (and please..i work customer service lines for the County gub'ment- I have ENOUGH people classifying me as a##hole!) __________________ Only with the eyes closed can one begin to truly see. Last edited by Stringbender : 01-18-2008 at 10:21 PM.

01-22-2008, 05:38 PM	#15
Stringbender Guitar Adept Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: whispered in dark corners Posts: 1,776 Thanks: 289 Thanked 218 Times in 188 Posts Rep Power: 146	Ok- I'm just as stoopid and krayzee as everybody else..LOL. But I AM here at THIS forum- so that's an obvious show of SOME decent intellect! __________________ Only with the eyes closed can one begin to truly see.

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