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Explore Levitin’s groupings, and see some examples

SOME of the oldest known human artefacts are musical instruments. Indeed we have never known a human society that didn’t have music. And music lies at the core of our identity today, says , a music industry professional turned professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. At least 10 million songs have been recorded in modern times. Can this vast catalogue, which Levitin calls “the soundtrack of civilization”, be distilled? Not only does Levitin think it can, he says it’s simple. All of music, he says, can be grouped into just six kinds of songs.

In , Levitin proposes that the six fundamental themes of music are friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge and love. He devotes a chapter to each, weaving together neuroscience, experimental psychology, history and personal anecdote to make a convincing enough case that these themes drive most of musical expression.

Some readers may disagree with Levitin’s categorisation, but his passionate journey into the hearts and minds of the musically obsessed is a fantastic ride. Along the way, you’ll hang out with Sting, Joni Mitchell and Oliver Sacks, as well as people you likely won’t have heard of but will be equally interested to meet, like music theorist Ian Cross.

Levitin argues that because music matters so much to us, it must have been selected for by nature. The six primary themes of music, he says, are clues to its adaptive roles. Joy, for instance, “can be a reliable indicator of a person’s mental and physical health”, so expressing that joy through music can help us attract more mates. As for songs of friendship, Levitin says that early humans used music to relieve social tensions and to help group members bond.

“Early humans used music to relieve social tensions”

Certainly, he shows that music affects our biology: it influences hormone production and impacts thought and feeling. Hard-line evolutionary theorists will be unmoved by his case, however. Reading, for example, is a near-universal human ability that affects our well-being and so, like music, it might feel like a biological need. But reading is not an evolutionary adaptation. Rather, it is a by-product of other cognitive functions, some of which may be adaptive, some not.

Levitin’s style is essayistic, and he sometimes starts his arguments from a long way off. But in addition to being a genuinely humble seeker of knowledge, he’s had a fascinating life. Reading his anecdotes, it’s hard to believe that his musical life can be boiled down to just six kinds of songs.

Explore Levitin’s groupings, and see some examples