Music: A Very Short Introduction

Music: A Very Short Introduction is a study of music and thinking about music, focusing on its social, cultural, and historical dimensions. It draws on a wealth of accessible examples, ranging from Beethoven to Chinese zither music. This VSI also discusses the nature of music as a real-time performance practice; the role of music in social and political action; and the nature of musical thinking, including the roles played in it by instruments, notations, and creative imagination. It explores the impact of digital technology on the production and consumption of music, including how it has transformed participatory music-making and the music business. Finally it examines music’s position in a globalized world. In many ways music has changed out of all recognition over the last twenty years, and so the second edition of this VSI has been comprehensively rewritten.