Music: A Very Short Introduction

by Nicholas Cook

Overview

What is music? How is it constructed? How is it consumed? Why do you enjoy it at all? In Music: A Very Short plays Introduction, Nicholas Cook invites us to really think about music and the role it plays in our lives and our ears. Drawing on a number of accessible examples, the author prompts us to call on our own musical experiences in order to think more critically about the roles of the performers and the listener, about music as a commodity and an experience, what it means to understand music, and the values we ascribe to it.

This very short introduction, written with both humor and flair, begins with a sampling of music as human activity and then goes on to consider the slippery phenomenon of how music has become an object of thought. Covering not only Western and classical music, Cook touches on all types from rock to Indonesian music and beyond. Incorporating musical forms from every continent, Music will make enjoyable reading for beginner and expert alike.

About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192853820
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/15/2000
Series:	Very Short Introductions , #2
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.02(w) x 4.43(h) x 0.36(d)
Lexile:	1370L (what's this?)

About the Author

Nicholas Cook is Research Professor of Music at University of Southampton.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Music in the moment
2. Thinking in music
3. The presence of the past
4. Music 2.0
5. Music in a global world
References
Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

"A magnificent achievement: I can't think of anyone in world musicology who could have done it better.... It will remain the go-to introduction to the broad field." — Roger Parker, Professor of Music (Emeritus), King's College London

From the Publisher