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. In How Music Works, Byrne notes that the aesthetics of opera singing have changed since the advent of recording technology; vibrato, which is now considered standard, was once looked down upon.

Musical traditions have blended for centuries, especially during colonization. The late 20th century saw increased international travel and the development of the Internet, both of which have facilitated cross-cultural exchange. As such, contemporary music is often characterized by intercultural elements like instruments, rhythms, or melodies. One clear example of this is reggaeton, which is built on a dembow rhythm. This electronic, looping beat originated in Jamaican dancehall music, but it’s based on tresillo drumming patterns that are common throughout the Caribbean. Tresillo, in turn, comes from African musical traditions, which enslaved Africans brought to these island colonies during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. While reggaeton can be heard on radios throughout the Western world and is part of the dominant culture, it’s an example of how different cultures contribute to the evolution of music.