I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine

Music is one of humanity’s oldest medicines. From the Far East to the Ottoman Empire, Europe to Africa and the pre-colonial Americas, many cultures have developed their own rich traditions for using sound and rhythm to ease suffering, promote healing, and calm the mind. In his latest work, neuroscientist and New York Times best-selling author Daniel J. Levitin (This Is Your Brain on Music) explores the curative powers of music, showing us how and why it is one of the most potent therapies today. He brings together, for the first time, the results of numerous studies on music and the brain, demonstrating how music can contribute to the treatment of a host of ailments, from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, to cognitive injury, depression, and pain. Levitin is not your typical scientist—he is also an award-winning musician and composer, and through lively interviews with some of today’s most celebrated musicians, from Sting to Kent Nagano and Mari Kodama, he shares their observations as to why music might be an effective therapy, in addition to plumbing scientific case studies, music theory, and music history. The result is a work of dazzling ideas, cutting-edge research, and jubilant celebration. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord highlights the critical role music has played in human biology, illuminating the neuroscience of music and its profound benefits for those both young and old.

About the Author :
Daniel J. Levitin is a neuroscientist, musician, and the author of four New York Times best-selling books, including This Is Your Brain on Music. He is dean emeritus at Minerva University, professor emeritus at McGill University, and adjunct professor at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. He lives in California.

Review :
"Essential to our understanding.… Hallelujah." "For many years I have wondered why a bunch of frequencies organized into a piece of music has the ability, even without words, to make the listener cry and become emotional. Although I know this happens to me and many people, I have often wondered how this can be. Dr. Levitin, in this latest book, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine, has some fascinating insights into this great phenomenon." "Daniel J. Levitin is a visionary neuroscientist, an extraordinary musician, a brilliant writer?and this is his best book yet. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord is inspiring and illuminating, as deep as it is delightful. I couldn’t put it down. So full of great ideas and delicious stories, it made me want to rewind my entire life and spend more of it making music." "For many of us, This is Your Brain on Music was an illuminating introduction to the neuroscience of music. Dan Levitin follows up with the comprehensive I Heard There Was a Secret Chord, expertly highlighting the latest trends and discoveries in arts and health, written in his always erudite yet concise and accessible style. We are so fortunate to have his keen mind leading this growing field and unlocking its mysteries for readers." "Working as a cross-culture detective, Daniel J. Levitin opens the mysteries of how music heals us and fires our emotions, inspirations, and desires. Levitin cracks the case wide open while synthesizing his research and experience in a book that is an important addition to our understanding of the human experience." "Lookin’ back at my life, it’s pretty easy to see how music has profoundly benefited my well-being, all while drawing me further & further into its mysteries?and there appears to be no end to this path. Dan Levitin’s take on this mirrors mine?and he can both explain it and tease the possibilities presented." "In the same way that we musicians study music theory, we also need to study everything in this book. How and why music affects us, and what it does to our minds and bodies, is just as critical to know. And Daniel Levitin pulls this all together beautifully." "Enthralling.… You won’t look at [a piece of] music the same." "Eye-opening." "An exemplary book.… A multi-instrumentalist who has played with everyone from Sting to Rosanne Cash to Blue Öyster Cult and also happens to be a bona fide neuroscientist, [Levitin’s] is simply not a combined skill set you find." "A fascinating read filled with wondrous examples of how music makes us feel and think (and why that is)." "In this fascinating book, a neuroscientist makes a strong case for the therapeutic force of music, describing ways in which it can be a beneficial part of recovery for patients.… [Levitin] merges research, theory and intriguing anecdotes about his interactions with musicians as well as patients to provide evidence of his contention that music not only functions as a temporary uplift or soothing balm in times of trouble, but possesses a much deeper restorative quality.… [I Heard There Was A Secret Chord] will certainly make you think more deeply about the healing properties of music, particularly for those who perform." "[A] fun and thoughtful read. In accessible terms, it gives a kind of crash course in the aspects of neuroscience that relate to aspects of our daily lives: joy, pain, learning, memory." "[Levitin’s] vital new book…[is] worth a hallelujah!" "We have long suspected that music has restorative qualities, but Daniel Levitin is now providing rigorous evidence that it can help treat many conditions, including depression, speech loss and Alzheimer’s." "Levitin shares why music is so powerful, what the latest science shows about its effects on our brains and how technology could help transform this art form into a kind of medicine." "I Heard There Was a Secret Chord (a follow-up to his bestselling This Is Your Brain on Music) is that rare thing: a science book that’s accessible to the lay reader but also packed with enough serious information to function as a useful reference.… [N]early every page contains either a surprising revelation about how music travels through our brains or a touching story of it helping when more conventional treatments have not." "Expand[s] our understanding of the power of music and its capacities to heal.… Levitin’s melodious writing captures the imagination." "This engrossing, compassionate, and thoroughly researched book reveals just how much we’ve learned about the interplay between the world of sound and the world inside our heads, even as it leaves the magic behind the music intact." "Informative and enjoyable, this book is for anyone interested in how the practice of medicine is expanding, and it’s a must-read for fans of the author’s previous books on music and the brain. Levitin’s story is a fascinating piece of work, written with authority, empathy, and occasional humor." "Brilliantly creative yet solidly evidence-based.… This fascinating and valuable title gives readers insight into the many neurological benefits of music. Most readers can easily identify what kind of music calms them, provokes creative sparks, or helps get them through strenuous exercises but until they read this, they may not know why music has that power or that it can be great medicine too." "Exuberant.… Enriching lucidly explained neuroscience with ebullient musical appreciation (a Billy Pierce saxophone solo is “in turns thrilling, heartbreaking, bustling, radiant, and always, always moving forward”), Levitin makes a persuasive case for music’s therapeutic potential that gives due to its medical promise without undercutting its mysteries. The result is a fascinating take on the tuneful raptures of the mind."