How Music Works

By John Powell,

Book cover of How Music Works: The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyond

Book description

"Any readers whose love of music has somehow not led them to explore the technical side before will surely find the result a thoroughly accessible, and occasionally revelatory, primer."—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

What makes a musical note different from any other sound? How can you tell if you have perfect pitch? Why…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked How Music Works as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The great thing about this book is that it explains so many of music’s conundrums in a brilliantly informative and often witty way.

Why do we use the first seven letters of the alphabet to denote musical pitches? Where did the musical stave come from? What actually is composition? Where do scales come from? Why do we find certain pieces really exciting? Why do other pieces make us feel sad?

Although we may think we know the answers, these and other questions are explained by John Powell in a highly engaging manner. Being both a musician and a professor of…

If you love How Music Works...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Want books like How Music Works?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like How Music Works.

Browse books like How Music Works

Book cover of The Story of Music: From Babylon to the Beatles: How Music Has Shaped Civilization
Book cover of Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties
Book cover of Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,901

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like How Music Works, you might also like...

Book cover of I Am Taurus

I Am Taurus by Stephen Palmer,

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from…

Book cover of We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter

We Had Fun and Nobody Died by Amy T. Waldman,

This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus atUW-Milwaukee, booking thousands of…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in music, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan?

Music 752 books
The Beatles 60 books
Bob Dylan 39 books