Rocker turned neuroscientist Daniel Levitin explores the connection between music—its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, what we love about it—and the human brain. Engaging with prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin argues that it is a fundamental property of our species. For most of human history around the world, composing and performing music was as natural as breathing and walking, and everyone participated. Drawing on research and musical examples from Mozart to Duke Ellington and Eddie Van Halen, the author reveals how composers use knowledge of how our brains perceive the world to achieve incredibly pleasant listening experiences; why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers; why practical exercises are even more important than talent to achieve musical mastery; how insidiously haunting melodies get stuck in our heads. This book is the story of how the brain and music evolved together, what music can tell us about the brain, and the brain can tell us about music, and how, with their help, we learn about ourselves.