"Six Song" Theory

Daniel Levitin, a musician and former producer who runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University in Montreal, made a splash with his provocative book "This Is Your Brain on Music." His latest book delves even further into the relationship between music and the mind. "The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature" showcases his theory of "six songs," illuminating how the brain evolved to play and listen to music in six fundamental forms — for friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love.