Fun and informative, but not technical enough for this scientist / person who can read music and sort of play several instruments. ( )

Not very good. Informative at first, but then got so detailed that it became useless without devoting a significant amount of time. ( )

Every so often I come across a book that I can imagine giving as a gift to at least half the people I know. The last one was [b:Yellowrocket|9110743|Yellowrocket|Todd Boss|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1282932744s/9110743.jpg|3334807], the one before that was [b:Earth|1230393|Earth|David Brin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1182086642s/1230393.jpg|1218966]. My 2010/2011 choice is: [b:How Music Works|8463375|How Music Works|John Powell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1276632563s/8463375.jpg|13327756]

Not just for music geeks:

Is [b:How Music Works|8463375|How Music Works|John Powell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1276632563s/8463375.jpg|13327756] about music or physics?
Is it for readers who want to better understand music as they are listening?
Is this book for percussionists? for those who play wind instruments? For those who play guitar? Piano?
For those who play their car stereos as loud as they can?
For those who have left a concert crying? or with their eyes crossed? or their hearts beating madly?
Is it for dancers? choreographers? band teachers? parents? People who cry when they hear the NPR theme song?
Movie lovers who know the sound track is crazy important to how much they like a film, but don't know why?

Guess what? The answer is yes to every question above!

Why? Because [a:John Powell|35143|John Powell|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] uses easy to understand, well illustrated language, lots of descriptive textual and audio examples(on the accompanying CD), plenty of anecdotes and self deprecating humor to help the reader through a huge range of knowledge about the physics and techniques of music which can help anyone become a better musician, listener, teacher, student or just plain music lover!


Still reading? then you might enjoy From Bach To Beer Bottles, The Physics of Music an [a:Ira Flatow|347939|Ira Flatow|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] NPR Science Friday interview with [a:John Powell|35143|John Powell|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg].

I received this book for free as part of goodreads' first-reads program. ( )

With a lot of humor and avoidance of technical detail, Powell breaks down everything about music including physics, acoustics, decibels, rhythm and melody, and musical scores. Despite the simplicity of the book, I still find myself challenged in remembering all that I learned, but I suspect that this is a good introduction to music for most readers. ( )

Not a bad book, but the author gets totally bogged down in musical jargon towards the middle, which he said he wouldn't do and which I hate. You can avoid this by skipping chapters 7, 8.and 9 and going to the last three chapters, which are more interesting.
The author uses examples which I know, which makes this part of the book fun. ( )