Publisher's Synopsis
Music is an intrinsic part of everyday life, yet the history of its development can seem bewilderingly complex. In his energetic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern pop, Howard Goodall leads us through the story of music idea by idea, so that each musical innovation - harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording, broadcasting - strikes us with its original force. He picks out the discoveries that revolutionised manmade sound and brings to life musical visionaries. 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 postwar pop songs have in common. The story of music is the story of our urge to invent, connect, rebel - and entertain. Howard Goodall's clear, compelling account is a hymn to human endeavour and a groundbreaking map of man's musical journey.
