You Are the Music

How Music Reveals What it Means to be Human

Victoria Williamson author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Icon Books

Published:4th Dec '14

Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date

You Are the Music cover

A deft, unique exploration of how music makes us who we are, throughout our lives.

'You are the music / While the music lasts' T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

Do babies remember music from the womb? Can classical music increase your child's IQ? Is music good for productivity? Can it aid recovery from illness and injury? And what is going on in your brain when Ultravox's 'Vienna', Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht or Dizzee Rascal's 'Bonkers' transports you back to teenage years?

In a brilliant new work that will delight music lovers of every persuasion, music psychologist Victoria Williamson examines our relationship with music across the whole of a lifetime.
Along the way she reveals the amazing ways in which music can physically reshape our brains, explores how 'smart music listening' can improve cognitive performance, and considers the perennial puzzle of what causes 'earworms'.

Requiring no specialist musical or scientific knowledge, this upbeat, eye-opening book reveals as never before the extent of the universal language of music that lives deep inside us all.

An excellent starting point for anyone wanting to know more about the role of music in human experience. * The Psychologist *
An insightful book on a fascinating subject. * The Lady *
A fascinating insight into our relationship with music. -- Claudia Sunderhauf * Waterstones.com *
'Dr Vicky Williamson's love of and fascination with the book's subject rolls off every page. She conveys the mystery and magic of music in a very clear and understandable way that makes not just for a compelling read but also one that will make you hear and listen to music in new ways'. -- Jonathan Morrish * PPL *

With a clear and conversational style, Williamson shares anecdotes as a springboard to discussing a range of experimental evidence for such intriguing uses. The reader gains considerable insight into how music can modulate emotional experiences.
You Are the Music demonstrates how much the music within us matters. Remaining practical and thoughtful throughout, Williamson incisively places music in a biological context.

* Science *
Her survey provides an uncomplicated look at music's power to impact human behaviour - **** * BBC Music Magazine *

ISBN: 9781848317437

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 17mm

Weight: 219g

224 pages