The Origins of Music

The book can be viewed as representing the birth of evolutionary biomusicology.What biological and cognitive forces have shaped humankind''s musical behavior and the rich global repertoire of musical structures? What is music for and why does every human culture have it? What are the universal features of music and musical behavior across cultures? In this groundbreaking book musicologists biologists anthropologists archaeologists psychologists neuroscientists ethologists and linguists come together for the first time to examine these and related issues. The book can be viewed as representing the birth of evolutionary biomusicologythe study of which will contribute greatly to our understanding of the evolutionary precursors of human music the evolution of the hominid vocal tract localization of brain function the structure of acoustic-communication signals symbolic gesture emotional manipulation through sound self-expression creativity the human affinity for the spiritual and the human attachment to music itself.ContributorsSimha Arom Derek Bickerton Steven Brown Ellen Dissanayake Dean Falk David W. Frayer Walter Freeman Thomas Geissmann Marc D. Hauser Michel Imberty Harry Jerison Drago Kunej Franois-Bernard Mche Peter Marler Bjrn Merker Geoffrey Miller Jean Molino Bruno Nettl Chris Nicolay Katharine Payne Bruce Richman Peter J.B. Slater Peter Todd Sandra Trehub Ivan Turk Maria Ujhelyi Nils L. Wallin Carol Whaling