I recently came across a priceless book which deals with the science of music. It is called ‘This is your brain on music’ authored by Daniel J. Levitin. This was published in 2006. The author is a scientist as well as a musician an interesting combination. The book of course deals with the western music and completely ignores Indian music but still is priceless for the contents. Other than an introduction it has nine chapters. I will just give the contents list here
1. What is Music? (From Pitch to Timbre)
2. Foot Tapping (Discerning Rhythm, Loudness, and Harmony)
3. Behind the Curtain (Music and the Mind Machine)
4. Anticipation (What we Expect from Liszt (and Ludacris))
5. You Know My Name, Look Up the Number (How We Categorize Music)
6. After Dessert, Crick Was Still Four Seats Away from Me (Music, Emotion and the Reptilian Brain)
7.What makes a Musician? (Expertise Dissected)
8. My Favorite Things (Why Do We Like the Music We Like?)
9. The Music Instinct (Evolution’s #1)
I found it very stimulating read almost like a novel. Enjoy it.
It is published by PLUME a Penguin group book house.