Music Between Your Ears

For anyone who is fascinated by the deep evolutionary roots of our preoccupation with music and intrigued by how these sounds are etched in the human brain, Samuel Markind's Music Between Your Ears is essential reading. Dr. Markind draws on his extensive knowledge of neurology to lay out how listening to music has a powerful impact on our thoughts and emotions.

Samuel Markind's Music Between Your Ears offers us an intellectual and musical tour de force examining the creative scenarios that urge us to link science and art. Arguing that we can 'make music to improve intellectual abilities,' Markind opens fertile ground on which to grow new choreographies of thought, medicine, and life.

Why does almost every baby respond to rhythms and melodies long before they respond to speech? In Music Between Your Ears, Dr. Samuel Markind shows that the brain is hardwired for musical response not merely for entertainment, but for evolutionary benefit. Written with clarity so that the layperson can understand complex brain activity, this book is a milestone toward the understanding of just how and why music is central to human existence.

Dr. Markind is a gifted teacher and storyteller. The basics of music (rhythm, melody, timbre), the function and structure of the musical brain (illustrated by helpful drawings) and clinical vignettes from Dr. Markind's neurology practice and life experiences are all told in a captivating style. This will become my 'go-to' reference book for music and the brain.

Music Between Your Ears is a deep dive into the many ways that music impacts us, including how music affects our mood and emotions, how it promotes social cohesion, and how it encodes and stimulates memory. Dr. Markind, a neurologist and music lover, conveys scientific information in a way that is accessible to readers of all backgrounds. It's an impressive work and I highly endorse it.