How Music Works

I'm a Talking Heads and David Byrne fan so naturally I was interested in his thoughts on music in general. This is a collection of chapters on topics from performance to recording technology to the business and trends surrounding music. As he said in the intro, you could read them in any order.I enjoyed the book for the most part. I have to admit there were certain parts that didn't hold my interest and I found them highly skimmable. He's clearly very intelligent and knowledgeable about the history and science behind making and selling music. This isn't really about promoting himself and his records. Though he does talk about Talking Heads and his other projects, it's mostly to show examples of firsthand experience. The first chapter discussed the idea that context determines what type of music is created. For instance, he brings up the way certain types of music developed to suit particular venues, (outdoors, in caves, opera houses, cathedrals). He also writes about music created for dancing, such as Jazz improvisation which is adapted to accommodate dancers who want to keep moving to a particular section. Players jam over chords while playing the same groove. Country, Latin, blues, and rock and roll is music to dance to and had to be loud enough to be heard above the chatter. This was something I hadn't thought of before and this chapter was well done.One of my favorite quotes in the book was from the chapter on live performance and how performers can give indications during a performance of what is about to happen (in a subtle way). “There are two conversations going on at the same time: the story and a conversation about how the story is being told.” He gives the example of horror films using ominous music which plays with audience expectations. But I think this could be applied to lots of types of art, including novels and stories. My favorite chapter was the one where he discusses amateur musicians and artists and funding for the arts. He makes some really good points about everyday people who are encouraged to consume rather than create and the way capitalism tends toward creating passive consumers. He continues to discuss funding for the arts is mostly limited to classical music and some types of Jazz are seen to have “moral value.” Hip-hop, club, and metal for example are considered to “lack positive moral essence.” Byrne wonders how we sense the moral value of the music; this is relative and subjective. Certain visual art is also seen as having moral value. He mentions John Carey's book, [b:What Good Are the Arts? 290215 What Good Are the Arts? John Carey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348364628l/290215.SY75.jpg 281566], which illustrates how officially sanctioned art and music gets privileged and concludes that assigning moral acuity to those that like high art is class-based. Opera halls, ballets, art museums receive more funding and not just from the government. Why not fund venues where young, emerging, semi-amateur musicians can make and perform music instead of “building a fortress to preserve its past?” Good book for fans of Byrne but also for amateur musicians and music fans.