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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
  • Daniel Levitin

    Why Humans are Hard-Wired to be Musical

    Bestselling author, neuroscientist and former rock producer Daniel Levitin made a splash with his provocative book This Is Your Brain on Music. He joins us today to talk about his latest book, The World in Six Songs, in which he has identified six kinds of songs that make humans tick: songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love.

"Six Song" Theory

Daniel Levitin, a musician and former producer who runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University in Montreal, made a splash with his provocative book "This Is Your Brain on Music." His latest book delves even further into the relationship between music and the mind. "The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature" showcases his theory of "six songs," illuminating how the brain evolved to play and listen to music in six fundamental forms — for friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love.

Our blog: John Schaefer on six types of songs

Daniel Levitin online

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Joshua Bell in The Greene Space

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