How Music Works

The book offers a comprehensive exploration of music that transcends traditional Eurocentric viewpoints, embracing a global perspective. This geographical or physical context is crucial to understanding the depth and breadth of David Byrne’s exploration of music as a universal language. The book explores various musical traditions, instruments, and practices from around the world, showcasing the diversity and richness of global music culture.

In Western societies, certain aspects of Western music theory are considered universal facts rather than regional ones. Examples include scales, tuning systems, harmonies, vocal styles, and norms surrounding performance. These differences can be seen by contrasting Western classical music with Indian classical music, two robust, well-documented traditions. While Western classical music plays notes simultaneously—known as polyphony—Indian classical music plays one note at a time. Both notes and the spaces between them—microtones—are equally important. Additionally, Western classical music is composed and transcribed in scores, while Indian classical music is an oral tradition and relies on improvisation. Even aesthetics differ between geographic and cultural contexts, which can be seen in different singing styles between cultures like overtone singing and throat singing. Not only do musical conventions vary between cultures, but they also vary across time.