cover image Tone Deaf and All Thumbs

Tone Deaf and All Thumbs

F. Paul Wilson, Frank R. Wilson. Viking Books, $15.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-670-80842-7

Convinced that everyone has an inborn ability to make music (a ""biological guarantee of musicianship''), California neurologist Wilson, who came late to piano playing, here presents a picture of the brain and muscular system to help nonmusicians to understand that the human body is a ``natural learner.'' He describes, in admirably untechnical language, the biology of rhythm and tempo, how we hear and see, the intricacies of musical notation; he tells what it's like to perform in public. Drawing comparisons between music-making and athletic skills, Wilson also tries to clarify such mysteries as tone deafness, perfect ptich, sight reading, memorization and ``pumping ivory.'' (April)