The Story of Music - from Babylon to the Beatles: How Music Has Shaped Civilization - Softcover

With playlists for each chapter, this is a masterful and illuminating whirlwind tour through thousands of years of musical history.

A celebrated British composer and broadcaster surveys the evolution and cultural significance of music, from prehistoric caves to Coldplay...Cultural history with some attitude and considerable rhythm and melody.

Music is an intrinsic part of everyday life, and yet the history of its development from single notes to multi-layered orchestration can seem bewilderingly complex.In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation—harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording—strikes us with its original force. Along the way, he also gives refreshingly clear descriptions of what music is and how it works: what scales are all about, why some chords sound discordant, and what all post-war pop songs have in common.The story of music is the story of our urge to invent, connect, rebel—and entertain. Howard Goodall's beautifully clear and compelling account is both a hymn to human endeavor and a groundbreaking map of our musical journey.