Rating: 
Summary: "Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy"="Science, Science, Science"
Review: Robert Jourdain's "Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy" is not a book to read for enjoyment, it is rather a book to read for information. It is a textbook containing the physics of sound waves, the biology of the brain, and the psychology of music. The word music does not even belong in the title. The word music implies enjoyment. Robert Jourdain provides no enjoyment in the book whatsoever. He overloads the reader with far too much information, even for someone as interested in science as me. Jourdain is also closed minded on the subject of music. He thinks that the only good music is classical music, and while he does not say this directly, its implication is very strong. Jourdain doesn't even mention any other styles of music other than classical. If a writer wants to discuss music, shouldn't he discuss the various styles of music? All in all, Robert Jourdain's misleading title and prejudice in music make for a very poor book.
Rating:
Summary: I'm afraid that I have to disagree.
Review: Robert Jourdain's book does have some worthy insights to offer, but I am truly offended by much of it. His hostility towards 20th. century music is hardly veiled by his psuedo-science (see pages 99-101). He seems to view all modern music as a reaction against earlier music. Does he like Bach because the music is merely "pretty"? And does he dislike (e.g.) Berg simply because the music is atonal and thus "hurts his ears"? Doesn't he recognize the difference between Beethoven or Carter (art) and Andrew Loyd Weber (kitsch)? Surely we can transcend all of this and recognize the universality of all brilliant art music. On pages 194-5, he proposes his hypotheses for why there are no "genius" composers in today's modern world, as well as showing his complete lack of knowledge of any modern music scene in the world. This is a uniquely American perspective -- in other parts of the world, living composers are respected and held in high esteem. Indeed, Mr. Jourdain, there are many brilliant (living) composers of art music for those who are willing to open their minds a bit. Not all listeners feel the need to "flee" from a performance of Schoenberg (p. 100), and not all authors feel the need to criticize an art they clearly do not understand.
Rating: 
Summary: UNIQUELY EXCELLENT BOOK, and don't mind the naysayers
Review: The majority of reviews of this book are generally positive, and I can only agree. I have bought and given this book to a friend, then re-purchased it for myself 3 times already! Its anecdotes and analyses are truly insightful and not to be found elsewhere. To the few negative reviews, however, take note: don't heed them! I myself play and produce, and LOVE music that is considered "jazz" or "electronic" or "black-influenced", and the material in this book is just as relevant to all of these musics, if not more so. (As merely one example, electronic instruments now offer the possibility of not only equal temperament, but also endless microtonal scales, the significance of which is richly described. I am afraid that another reviewer's idea of electronic music is limited to so-called contemporary techno, which is a droplet in the ocean of the history of composing...) The texture of an African drum is not something that resists scientific analysis. Emprirical science was little seen in Africa, but it is not a uniquely Western phenonemon -- although it has, yes, reached its highest point so far in the West -- and to say that Jourdain's book is an "impossible attempt to reduce the human soul to scientific scrutiny" comes across as ludicrous. Do read this book, it has made me think deeply about the joy of the ultimate artifice -- music.
Rating:
Summary: How music and the brain work, and how consciousness works.
Review: This book builds chapter by chapter from the building blocks of music (tones, scales, melody) and the brain structures and perceptive channels which allow human understanding of music... and ends up coming close to a breakthrough in defining general human consciousness. To this amateur, the book is readable and entertaining, full of "wow cool!" moments.... a trained musician hears music with both sides of the brain more fully engaged than does an amateur....the Pythagorean scale is both arbitrary and yet in some ways a natural result, giving our brain structures and musical structure... I have a father-in-law who explores the entire philosophy of consciousness (often over a good brandy) who notes that this work comes close to defining consciousness, what is uniquely human. In hearing music and retaining in the moment both the past musical notes, and the form of the music past and present, the human consciousness extends the past and future into the present listening moment... this is as good a definition of consciousness as might be.... As a non-musician, this book is a great tutorial in music, with brilliant insights into the human mind.
Rating:
Summary: Ecstatic Review!
Review: This book is tremendous presentation that includes lots of interesting research that explains why we all love music so much. Jourdain includes many answers to questions and corrections of misconceptions about the effects of harmonies on our physiology. Also, written with a nicely flowing (not pedantic) easy-to-read style. Because of this, it's one of the few books that I like to give as presents to my music loving friends.
Rating: 
Summary: A biased approach
Review: This book is written in an engaging style and covers a variety of fascinating musical topics, ranging from the human ear to more subtle psychological perceptions of music, yet it's hard to escape the author's often barely concealed elitism toward classical music. I am a classical music lover myself, yet I realize other genres such as rock or jazz have a wealth of substance to offer any fan of music. Consequently, I found it a bit off-putting that Jourdain makes some patronizing comments about popular forms of music. If nothing else he should realize that he's only reinforcing the stereotype of the classical music lover as a snobbish elitist. Still, if you can bite your lip as you read, the information contained is fascinating and worth learning about.
Rating: 
Summary: an ANACHRONISM
Review: This book seems to have been written fifty years ago, and updated recently with the appropriate factoids - but only the ones that help the author's case.
When I saw this book on the shelf at my local music shop, I thought it was written just for me. I'd been fairly passionate about music since adolescence, but just recently my relationship with my music causing, yes, ecstasy. I wanted to know why, and figured this book would explain. This book failed to answer my questions. The book is written from a heavily biased "position" regarding music, which the author admits, and does nothing to conceal, throughout. This position is reactionary and precious. It is amusing how the author picks and chooses contemporary scientific concepts to support his anachronistic view of music. Basically, he enjoys pretty sounding music with complex hierarchical structures. He begins his book in a good place -- how humans first begin to process patterns in sound -- but before you realize it he has turned his argument into a petty, ill conceived diatribe with a hodgepodge array of supporting "facts" and a poorly repressed bitterness that his "side" is losing. He paints a picture of the how elevator music and John Cage have destroyed music. He doesn't even offer a brighter day solution. I was grinning the whole way through the second half of this book.
Again what is most confusing to me is that all music written the last half of the 21st century is ignored, and so when Jourdain picks his enemies, he picks John Cage. John Cage? That issue is a dead horse! I wonder whether the author is afraid to pick on Autechre, Paul Schutze, and Richard D. James, or whether he even knows who these people are. For a book written in the closing days of the 21st century, it is remarkable that no mention is given to electronic music.
This is just one of the larger flaws of a book that has many. The book is against all forms of "pop" arguing that since the music is simple, it is invalid and can't cause "ecstasy." He says that since we hear music everywhere - the gas station, supermarket, elevator - we tune it out completely and immunize ourselves to the joys of the careful study of complex hierarchies of melody. Personally I think he has a point about a lot of banal crud that we shouldn't have to listen to, but I disagree with his thinking that music all the time is NECESSARILY a bad thing. What about the idea that the epically vast array of tunes available to us today lets us set the soundtrack to our own lives, the walkman empowering the common person to living in a state of musical bliss unimaginable just fifty years ago? And pop might not be your thing, but there's good pop and bad pop, and Jourdain is picking a fight he can't win by suggesting that all pop is less meaningful to the pretty, harmonic complexities he grooves on. I think that a book about music and ecstasy should evaluate the sociological implications of music. The human mind works by connecting memory and new input through a process of metonymy in a great big holistic web. Think of the impact of music icons like Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles. What the author implies to be simple, repetitive, songs have ingrained themselves in the human experience to such a degree that all sorts of ecstatic experiences are linked to them. I mean, I've been known to become unreasonably happy listening to Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, which I'm the first to admit is bereft of hierarchical complexity.
Here's the bottom line. This book is likely to deceive many people who enjoy classical music but haven't made up their mind about "new" music or the general direction music is heading. It preaches to the choir. It is very selective in the information it allows it's readers to have, narrowly defining the art in terms of a battleground, the nebulous enemy given a face in the conveniently unpopular John Cage. I give this book two stars for its value as an anthropological artifact. If you read it, read it critically and then seek a second opinion (and here I wish I could recommend something, and I hope something worth recommending will be written soon). Let's not allow reactionary authors to pull the wool over our eyes. Don't fall victim to the psychological rotes which are responsible for books like this.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing experience
Review: This book was to me a complete waste of time. It contains everything from the physiology of the inner ear, the brain, to Beethoven, and the theme from the Pink Panther; scattered facts with no coherency what so ever. It presents no new facts, and not even any new ideas. The author never asks himself the question 'Why is this important?' For example: It is mentioned that the reason why an interval is dissonant is because it falls within a socalled 'critical band' of hearing. That might be interesting trivia, but does it add anything to our understanding of music? I think not. At one point the author writes 'Fortunately you don't need to understand the brain to be able to use it'. Exactly! So what is the point of this book? Music is an emotional and spiritual experience. The author has once and for all proven that looking for musical enlightment via a pseudo-scientific discourse as impossible as trying to locate the human soul by brain surgery, and as meaningless.
Rating:
Summary: Should have been called: Music, the Brain, and Snobbery
Review: This is a very enjoyable book for people who have some interest in classical music. People who do not enjoy classical music will absolutely hate this book. Although he isn't explicit, he manages by the very act of being vague to blatantly convey his feeling that classical music is the only music of value on the planet. This is of course not true. He says something like "people go to jazz concerts to view the antics of unplanned improvisation." Apparently he would like to insinuate that music is only good when it is planned out. Improvisation, in my opinion, can be just as transporting as a written down, painstakingly planned out symphony. Furthermore, he has the gall to say that "noise laden instruments such as the electric guitar are anathema to the harmony listener." Is this not the EPITOME of snobbery? I'll bet you he hasn't heard any melodic metal like Children of Bodom, In Flames, Blind Guardian, not to mention old Metallica! However, there are some fascinating things in here such as the personalities of some composers. I never knew that Bach flung his wig at musicians who screwed up. I laughed heartily when I read that. (heh) Also, the discussion about the development of the Pythagorean scale and then the tempered scale was absolutly fascinating. All in all, its a good book, if you can get through Jourdain's clear bias towards Western classical music.
-Derek Andrews
Rating:
Summary: good overview of the mainstream literature
Review: This is an excellent survey of the mainstream psychology of music, from the neurology of the ear to the psychology of composing. There is a wealth of information about the perception and cognition of musical sound. However, as others have noted, Jourdain really doesn't deliver on the "ecstasy" in his title. To some extent that is a limitation of the research base he draws on, which is weak on emotion and almost completely silent on ecstasy. However, quite a bit of anecdotal evidence is available, but Jourdain doesn't review it.
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