{"product_id":"the-shortest-history-of-music-from-bone-flutes-to-synthesizers-hildegard-of-bingen-to-beyonce-5-000-years-of-instrument-and-song-andrew-ford-paperback","title":"The Shortest History of Music: From Bone Flutes to Synthesizers, Hildegard of Bingen to Beyoncé - 5,000 Years of Instrument and Song -- Andrew Ford, Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo art form is as widely discussed--or as readily available--as music. With the click of just a few buttons, modern humans can decide what they think of the brand-new Beyonc? just as quickly as they can form opinions on Brahms or the Beatles or Bob Dylan. But things weren't always this way. In this brisk, breakneck history, award-winning musician and broadcaster Andrew Ford dives into the constant evolutions and reinventions that have led to the popularity and accessibility of modern music--from early oral songs, to the invention of a notation, to the first recording technology and record companies--all paving the way for the multibillion-dollar industry we know today. In fewer than 300 pages, Ford explores: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eWhy playing history's earliest example of notated music--clay tablets from 1400 BCE Syria--doesn't produce a consistent sound\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eHow colonization and the slave trade led to one region in West Africa having an unparalleled influence on world music\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eHow clerical and royal support allowed early composers to invent the symphony\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eWhy the BBC hired a bird impersonator to sound like a nightingale in an early live broadcast of cello music\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eWhat leads humans to make music in the first place--and why music plays such a massive role in our culture.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith photographs, illustrations, and notational diagrams throughout, \u003cem\u003eThe Shortest History of Music\u003c\/em\u003e takes us on a lively, authoritative tour through several thousands of years of music history, tracing our relationship with this essential art and allowing us to freshly appreciate and understand music today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andrew Ford\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Experiment\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798893030525","brand":"Andrew Ford","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49926458015972,"sku":"9798893030525","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0611\/9587\/8628\/files\/9798893030525.jpg?v=1789977033","url":"https:\/\/bookandmortar.com\/products\/the-shortest-history-of-music-from-bone-flutes-to-synthesizers-hildegard-of-bingen-to-beyonce-5-000-years-of-instrument-and-song-andrew-ford-paperback","provider":"BookandMortar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}