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Several reviewers with considerable expert knowledge in the area have - it is fair to say - excoriated this book on this site. Or is it the old adage in bad jazz - "if you make a mistake, be sure to repeat it" that obtains here as in his playing.Levitin's work is an example of why cognitive science in progressing only slowly. That did not qualify him to attempt a project of this nature. For example, as alluded to in one of these reviews, p.
For those who want a solid grounding in a generative theory of music, try Jackendoff and LerdahlA Generative Theory of Tonal Music. On P. Regrettably, then, even when the discussion on the neuroscience of music shows signs of competence (eg 227-228), I am disinclined to follow anything up. Our own edited collection Language, Vision, and Music: Selected Papers from the 8th International Workshop on the Cognitive Science of Natural Language Processing, Galway, Ireland 1999 (Advances in Consciousness Research)features writers at a much higher stage of competence than LevitinSeán O Nualláin Ph.D. One cannot enter an established academic field - or two, in this case - with a gragbag of techniques and less than fully-baked ideas and hope to get away with it. Levitin may be a clever experimentalist, and possibly a good music producer.
180 the cat is out of the bag; "Crick's own search had encouraged me to take my lack of experience as a licence to think about cognitive neuroscience differently than other people" Quite. 4u Meitheamh 2009 The musical errors are elementary, and at times close to maddening, as several reviewers have pointed out. 238 shows that Levitin has never actually played with a real jazz ensemble; the "chorus" is indeed the whole form, not the "B" section.
I play Tabla and this book just further enhances my practice. This is a great book.
Also, I would have appreciated a diagram to illustrate the areas of the brain discussed. Levitin has no idea what "groove" is. Again, being a player, does not make one an artist. Well written and informative, but Mr. This is fast read with a few nuggets to enhance ones understanding of how the brain works, but fortunately for the author, there's more work to be done. This inability marred his conclusions and misdirected his studies/experiments. Levitin is apparently unable to recognize the X factor that is the indescribable, innate quality of an artist that cannot be taught; that does not need years of training to release--and is the reason why some highly trained people are brilliant technicians, but not artists. As a musician, it is also my opinion that Mr.
I can't recommend the book highly enough. This book does an amazing job of introducing the reader to how the brain works, how it develops in the human, and how it responds to various stimuli including music. Combined with the works of Damasio and Leonard Meyer (U of Chicago), the book immerses the reader in a wonderful sea of information and opens new areas to explore.
Levitin uses humor and what we know to explain our obsession with music. Well written science about our brains and music that we can understand.
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