As was the case with How Music Works, I would like to take all the credit for the good bits of this book and blame someone else (anyone else) for any omissions, blunders, and stupidities that might be discovered by you readers. Unfortunately this cunning plan is doomed to failure because I have to admit that a lot of people helped me during the course of the past four years.
First of all I would like to thank my excellent, marvelously well-informed editor Tracy Behar and her colleagues Jean Garnett, Genevieve Nierman, and Ben Allen at Little, Brown for all their advice and support. Thanks also to Amanda Heller for her meticulous copyediting.
A host of music specialists and psychologists read various sections of the book and gave me encouragement and feedback. Especial thanks must go to the doyenne of the subject, Professor Diana Deutsch, who very generously spent time reading several chapters, and I would also thank Professors Nicky Dibben, David Hargreaves, John Sloboda, and Sandra Trehub.
My heroic girlfriend, Kim, gets a gold medal for reading and correcting about ten versions of the manuscript and giving calming and expert technical assistance whenever my computer did anything particularly stupid or malicious.
And my greatest thanks must go to my friend Dr. John Wykes, who provided a constant stream of good advice, great information, and stern instructions to pull my socks up and try to explain things properly!
Without all the excellent help and advice I received from these people (and my friends Rod O’Connor, Pierre Lafrance, Jim Carpenter, Whit, John Dingle, Patricia Lancaster, Mini Grey, Jo Grey, Bob and Jen Malone, Clem Young, David Osborne, and DJ Fresh), I wouldn’t have been able to put together the good bits of the book.
And as for those omissions, blunders, and stupidities, I want to make it quite clear that they have nothing to do with me. I think it’s only reasonable that, as usual, I attribute any blame for such things to my former secondary school geography teacher, Mr. Nigel Jones, of 14B Mountebank Close, Eccles, Lancashire. Please send any negative comments, lawsuits, or demands for compensation directly to him at the above address.
Cheers,
John
Direct email: howmusicworks@yahoo.co.uk
Finally, I would like to also thank the following two firms for giving me permission to quote song lyrics:
Lyrics from “Bad Moon Rising” written by John Cameron Fogerty, reproduced by permission of Concord Music Group, Inc.
Lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” reproduced by kind permission of Bob Dylan Music Co.