Shop For This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of Human Obsession

While admittedly this is a book which will appeal to a limited audience, I loved it! Levitin runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University, and has the unique resumé of professional recording artist turned sound engineer turned neuroscientist. This is a highly academic (difficult to read) book which seeks to educate three audiences: Scientists, Musicians and Music-lovers.

The first chapter of the book manages to do something I would previously have thought impossible: It breaks music down into purely scientific constructs, including very technical definitions of terms such as "melody", "harmony", and "timbre". Even the most thoroughly left-brained reader will be able to develop an appreciation of music here! Thankfully, he does acknowledge that music contains elements which absolutely cannot be explained outside of subjective experience.

The rest of the book focuses on the effects music has on its listeners, both socially and psychologically. I've read several books on the psychology of music, but this is definitely one of the best.Get more detail about This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of Human Obsession.