In 1973 Leonard Bernstein gave a series of six intriguing lectures on music at Harvard under the collective title of ‘The unanswered Question’, itself borrowed from the title of Charles Ive’s, eponymous chamber piece, which, it has been suggested, Ives, himself, borrowed from Emerson’s poem, ‘The Sphinx’, ‘Thou art the Unanswered Question’. Bernstein opens his first lecture with the question, ‘Whither music?’

In a sense this book covers similar, if not exactly the same, ground: the author opens his introduction with two questions: what and why is music? Being a musician and neurologist, he sticks quite closely, in Part 1 of this two-part book, to describing recent developments in imaging technology, and the like, and its application to revealing what it can tell us about how human beings respond to music as evidenced by what we can see going on in our brains while we think about, play or compose it. This isn’t as dry as it might seem since he illustrates his descriptions anecdotally from his own professional experience and from published research, particularly in the field of neuroplasticity. The plus-side to all this is that thinking about, playing or composing music actually makes our brains bigger and improves our performance in other fields of cerebral endeavour too.

Part 2 moves away from neurology and comprises a series of essays on a variety of music related aspects of both the author’s professional and personal lives. For example, there is a short but informative foray into the history of Russian music and the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church on its development.

If you are a music lover and interested in the effects it has on us and why you should find reading this extremely well-written, engaging, and educative book a very pleasurable experience.

Thank you Sunacumen Press and Netgalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed and appreciated this book. Based on Neuroscience and the effects music has on people this book hit all the spots for me. It was hugely informative and interesting. I am sure we can all appreciate how a beautiful piece of music can move us, the right beat can motivate us and again another can calm us; this wonderful book takes us deeper and helps us understand the scientific and medically shown ways that music can heal our bodies at a deeper level.

Totally fascinating, thank you for this great ARC.

Benefits of music on our temperament and behavior have been discussed for a long time. Many who believe that the mind-body connection is a two-way street also think that the body can induce and invoke the same chemical processes in brain, just as happiness induces a smile on our face.
The author here argues the same with music. An universal language, music is strictly limited to certain species that can understand the differences in tunes and the musical ups and downs. The author quotes research from various researchers in the field of music and neurology along with his own experiences to drive home this point. The book picks each benefit or effect of music on our brains and shows you how it affects us. However, the text comes across as repetitive and the structure could have been better. The current style of narration is academic and lay readers may find it difficult to follow.

I actually quite enjoyed reading this book. The first part provided a good overview of current thinking about how learning music can be beneficial to a developing brain, and how those benefits seem to continue as the brain ages.

The reason I only gave this book three stars, however, was because the two sections of the book seemed completely disconnected. The second part consisted of anecdotes about the author’s musical experiences, mostly describing various people with whom he had performed or who had performed as part the music festival with which he has been associated for many years. Unfortunately, often the only connection to the first part of the book comes from a sentence or two tacked onto the story, and this left me feeling as if I had read two different books.

I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher via NetGalley. Thanks!

A fascinating and personal account of the relationship between music and the brain. The author is both a doctor and a proficient and passionate musician. The book is broadly divided into two sections, the first half dealing with the science and the second based more on the author's personal experiences. My personal preference was the first half, I found the science to be well researched and clearly and concisely presented. The topics covered ranged from the effects of exposure to music on the development and plasticity of the brain in young children, to the possibility of music being used as an adjunct to conventional treatments in conditions such as dementia and even Parkinson's disease. The tone of the second half of the book is more personal, and describes the author's lifelong love of music and his passion to share it with others.
I read and reviewed a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This book fascinated me as soon as I read the blurb on NetGalley.  I have no medical knowledge and I won't pretend I understood all of what this doctor was trying to tell us through this book.

The book is in two parts, Part One - Music in the Brain and Part Two - Reflections on a Musical Life.  Chapters include questions such as: Why There is Music?, Can Learning Music Make Us Smarter? and Can Music Heal?  The author looks at these questions in depth and includes many references for further reading and follow up.

I am at my happiest with soft music playing whilst I read, but prefer upbeat pop/rock music when I am doing housework.  There are few times where I don't have music on around the house and my taste in music varies as wide as is possible with my music collection having something from each genre in todays world.

I think we all enjoy some quiet time with music and we individually know which tracks will make us feel better depending on our mood at that current time.  This book looks into the reasons why. There are chapters that look at more serious medical conditions and ask can music be of any assistance to those suffering with Alzheimers, Dementia and Parkinson's as well as many other conditions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sunacumen Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to publication.