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Why You Like It

the Science and Culture of Musical Taste
Jul 15, 2019JLMason rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Sadly I could not finish this fascinating, packed-with-information, 645 page book within the three week lending period. While knowing how to read music and play an instrument would greatly enhance understanding, a dedicated reader who enjoys music will still learn a lot. The book has four components: historical background on Pandora and the development of music “genes”; a short instruction on the attributes of music (e.g. harmony, rhythm, melody, etc); descriptions of seven common music genotypes (e.g. rock, jazz, hip hop, etc); and interludes, which are stand alone articles that enhance general understanding (e.g. Music, Math, and Physics and Psychology and Musical Taste). The interludes are the most easy to read and could comprise a book on their own. There is a companion web site to the book that provides additional information and links. It also has playlists for the music referenced in each chapter, but listening to these requires a Pandora subscription, which is not available in Canada. Copyright issues probably required use of a subscription service, but not being able to listen to a curated list detracted from appreciating the book.