I have loved music for most of my life and, this is probably true of most people, and I have never learned to play and instrument, so this thread is coming from the angle of appreciation. It is based on a book I have been reading, called 'This is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession', by Daniel Levithin(2006). The author is a neuroscientist and has been a record producer. He explores how music is linked to the processes in the brain and mental states, including emotions.

He looks at what music is and why individuals like specific music. He says,
'...it is helpful to examine what music is made of. What are the fundamental building blocks of music?...The basic elements of any sound are loudness, pitch, contour, duration (or rhythm), tempo, timbre, spatial location, and reverberation. Our brains organize these fundamental perceptual attributes into higher-level concepts_ just as a painter arranges lines into forms_ and these include meter, harmony, and melody. When we listen to music, we are actually perceiving multiple attributes or '"dimensions".
This objective component of music is important.

However, he speaks of the individual and unique aspects of development of musical understanding in the brain, in terms of the idea of neuroplasticity. In particular, he suggests that it is much more difficult to acquire new music taste later in life, explaining the way in which people often stop seeking new music. He also states that at 'a deeper level, the emotions we experience in response to music involve structures deep in the the primitive, reptilian regions of the cerebellar vermis, and the amygdala_the heart of emotional processing in the cortex'.

I found these ideas useful for thinking about, including where music takes us to into certain states of consciousness. For example, if many people are listening to Pink Floyd are they all perceiving a certain objective or intersubjective reality? Of course, the development of musical taste is formed in childhood. Personally, I grew up listening to pop and rock, and have difficulty relating to classical music and opera. However, I developed a strong liking for alternative genres, including indie and metal while a student, and these form strong emotional associations.

I am writing this with a view to readers thinking and reflecting on where music takes them, and asking why? I am also questioning to what extent the music listened to can affect and have a profound effect on mental states and emotions?