WHY YOU LIKE IT The Science and Culture of Musical Taste

A big advantage to listening to Nolan Gasser's deep dive into music--how the brain processes it, theories of preferences, and even a quick dip into music therapy--is the inclusion of countless musical clips for illustration. As he explains melody, harmony, and rhythm, and develops seven prototype fans for several genres--including rock, jazz, world music, and classical--the clips make his discussions a lot clearer than than they would be if one were merely seeing the scores on the page. This long audiobook ranges from straightforward to incredibly technical. Gasser paces it slowly, regardless of the complexity of the material, so sometimes his delivery is too slow. But he can be quite charming--as when he recounts his childhood dispute over whether Queen is better than Kiss. A.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2019]