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A legendary record-producer-turned-brain-scientist explains why you fall in love with music
Despite being unable to play an instrument, Susan Rogers became an extraordinarily successful record producer - and certainly one of the most successful women record producers in history - because of her ability to listen. (She was an engineer on Prince's "When Doves Cry", which inspired the title of the book.)
This is What It Sounds Like distils a lifetime's expertise as a producer and an award-winning professor with a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, to present a new theory of listening for everyday music fans. Each person has a unique identity as a listener, she explains, determined by seven influential dimensions of musical listening: authenticity, realism, novelty, melody, lyrics, rhythm and timbre.
In helping readers understand and embrace their personal musical identity, Rogers explores the different ways music appeals to our mind and body, how falling in love with a song is a lot like falling in love with a person, and what your preferred music reveals about what you need to feel whole. Told in a lively, empathetic style, with fascinating stories of encounters with musicians from Prince to Miles Davis to David Byrne, This is What it Sounds Like will change your musical life.
Author: Dr. Susan Rogers
Paperback Published 6 February 2024 288 pages
Originally published in trade paperback 18 October 2022
"This Is What It Sounds Like is a revelation... extraordinary insights about music, emotion, and the brain... An instant classic, [it] should be read by anyone who has ever been moved by a piece of music-in other words, everyone"
-DR. DANIEL J. LEVITIN, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC AND THE ORGANIZED MIND
"If you've ever wondered why you love a song and what that says about you this book will help you understand why. Susan is one of the smartest people in the world of music and this book will help you hear music more deeply and more thoughtfully. You can tell why Prince loved working with her."
-TOURÉ, AUTHOR OF I WOULD DIE 4 U: WHY PRINCE BECAME AN ICON