Blog Post 5

I found Daniel Levintin’s “This is Your Brain on Music” very interesting. Although I thought the first few chapters were a bit dull, I enjoyed learning more about the basics of music. I certainly refreshed my knowledge of these music terms, and I feel better about using them. I thought the part about melody was particularly nice to read about. Once Levintin got into the neuroscience of music and your brain I was really intrigued. Being a pre- med student I very much enjoyed reading about the science behind music and everything it’s done for humans throughout history. I thought it was very surprising to read that humans are not the only species that respond to music. The electrodes on owls experiment was very interesting, and it shows that music is not only a human experience. Not only do other species respond to music, but the fact that every culture that has been observed has some kind of music. It was fascinating to learn about how much music has affected human evolution. The growth of music has been incredible. From the chants Gregorian monks would do a thousand years ago, to all the varieties and genres we have today. Also even though it should seem obvious that the ears do not really do much when it comes to the perception of sound, it was good to read about how the brain processes the information. I was in human anatomy last semester so I somewhat understand how the ears are able to pick up sound. I also liked the part that discussed how even when a song was played in different speeds, our brain was still able to perceive it. I definitely have noticed this before when fast forwarding through a song. I also agreed with Levintin when he was dismissing how some scientist believe music has no real purpose. Music clearly has a large purpose and is very important to many people.