John Powell
All Books By John Powell
How Music Works
- By: John Powell
- Length: 8 hours 7 minutes
- Publisher: Ascent Audio
- Publish date: November 24, 2010
- Language: English
-
4.02(4298 ratings)
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.
Why You Love Music
- By: John Powell
- Narrator: Phil Fox
- Length: 8 hours 54 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: June 14, 2016
- Language: English
-
3.76(327 ratings)
Music plays a hugely important role in our emotional, intellectual, and even physical lives. It impacts the ways we work, relax, behave, and feel. It can make us smile or cry, it helps us bond with the people around us, and it even has the power to alleviate a range of medical conditions. The songs you love (and hate, and even the ones you feel pretty neutral about) don’t just make up the soundtrack to your life — they actually help to shape it.
In Why You Love Music, scientist and musician John Powell dives deep into decades of psychological and sociological studies in order to answer the question “Why does music affect us so profoundly?” With his relaxed, conversational style, Powell explores all aspects of music psychology, from how music helps babies bond with their mothers to the ways in which music can change the taste of wine or persuade you to spend more in restaurants. Why You Love Music will open your eyes (and ears) to the astounding variety of ways that music impacts the human experience.