Tripping the World Fantastic: A Journey Through the Music of Our Planet

by Glenn Dixon

Overview

A fascinating journey through the world’s musical cultures.

Every culture on Earth has music. Every culture that’s ever existed has had it, but we don’t exactly know why. Music is not like food, shelter, or having opposable thumbs. We don’t need it to live, and yet we can’t seem to live without it. Glenn Dixon travels the globe exploring how and why people make music. From a tour of Bob Marley’s house to sitar lessons in India, he experiences music around the world and infuses the stories with the latest in brain research, genetics, and evolutionary psychology. Why does music give us chills down the backs of our necks? What exactly are the whales singing about and why does some music stick in our minds like chewing gum?

Through his adventures, Dixon uncovers the real reasons why music has such a powerful hold on us – and the answers just might surprise you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459706569
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	03/30/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Glenn Dixon has published travel articles in publications such as National Geographic, the New York Post, The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, and Psychology Today. He is the author of Pilgrim in the Palace of Words and lives in Calgary.

Glenn Dixon has published travel articles in major publications such as National Geographic, the New York Post, The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, and Psychology Today. An expert on language with an M.A. in socio-linguistics, he is currently a language consultant with the Calgary Board of Education. He lives in Calgary.

Table of Contents

Chapter One:  Darwin's Big Idea

1.1  Whirling Dervishes

1.2  The Lost City of Petra

1.3  The Star of Bethlehem

1.4  Pilgrims on Mount Sanai

Chapter Two:  How to Remove a Human Brain

2.1   The minarets of Cairo

2.2.  The Scales of Pythagroas

2.3   Rome and the invention of Harmony

2.4   Flamenco in Old Seville

Chapter Three:  Rhythms of the Heart

3.1  Rocking the Kasbah

3.2  Timbuktu: at the end of the world

3.3  Ghana and the talking drums

3.4  Sierre Leone and the Slave Ships

Chapter Four:  Music is a drug

4.1  Cuba and the last Salsa

4.2. Bob Marley and the Magical Mystery Tour

4.3. Steel Drums and the Rum Kings

4.4  Tikal: till death do us part

Chapter Five:  Spirits of the Earth

5.1  The Pan Pipes of Machu Picchu

5.2  War Cry of the Navajo

5.3 Canoes and whale song

5.4  The Throat Singing of the Inuit

Chapter Six:  Dance on the Volcano

6.1  Tahiti and the dance of flowers

6.2  The War Dance of the Maori

6.3  Bali and the Gamelan orchestra

6.4  Cambodia and the landmines

Chapter Seven:  The Memory of Elephants

7.1   Tibet and the 3000 Buddhist texts

7.2   India: with the Beatles in Rishikesh

7.3   India and Bollywood

7.4  China and the Wall

Chapter Eight:  The Genius of Music

8.1  St. Petersburg and the Czar's fabulous egg

8.2  Germany and the Art of Fugue

8.3  The Pipes of the Highlands

8.4  Vienna and Genius

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

On Pilgrim in the Palace of Words:
"Pilgrim in the Palace of Words is immensely appealing to anyone with a yearning to travel, an interest in the world’s diverse cultures and a love of words. And there is enough adventure to satisfy even the most critical of armchair travelers."—The Chronicle-Herald

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/29/2013
Glenn Dixon's whirlwind tour of 17 countries to explore the universal purpose of music, people's love of it, and its relationship to evolutionary psychology, brain physiology, genetics and culture is a stimulating adventure. Dixon (Pilgrim in the Palace of Words) writes in a friendly, humorous, and inclusive way that invites readers to join his travel expedition, investigating how and why people have always had a deep need to express themselves through music and to come together to create and celebrate it. Online links to audio/video clips allow readers to experience the music where he found it—whether it's a Paleolithic bone flute from 42,000 BCE, King Tut's trumpets, the Sh'ma Yisreal sung atop Mount Sinai, Bob Marley in Jamaica, or Dixon himself, singing a Scottish lament from a castle. Dixon's understanding of brain physiology and chemistry, as well as music cognition, help him provide insight into the relationship between language and music, why people crave music, why physiological bonds develop between people who sing together, and why music remains active and alive in people's minds and memories. Clearly a labor of love, the book succeeds by connecting readers intimately with the souls of music-makers all over the world. Canadian Distribution: UTP Distribution. U.S. Distribution: Ingram. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Reading Tripping The World Fantastic made me want to travel, to plan as Glenn Dixon planned, to venture to places historic and unique.

Albertaviews

This travelogue is given deeper meaning and interest by the inner journey that parallels it. For the author structures his travels to explore the music that he encounters along the way. And each important musical experience is available as an online resource to listen to and absorb what it teaches us about the importance of music to humanity. This is a fascinating journey to the edge of current thinking in brain physiology: how does music work in our brain? There are some fundamental revelations happening right now in science that Glenn helps explain in the context of what he experienced and what we are able to listen to on his website.

[Starred Review] Dixon's understanding of brain physiology and chemistry, as well as music cognition, help him provide insight into the relationship between language and music, why people crave music, why physiological bonds develop between people who sing together, and why music remains active and alive in people's minds and memories. Clearly a labor of love, the book succeeds by connecting readers intimately with the souls of music-makers all over the world.

Reading Tripping The World Fantastic made me want to travel, to plan as Glenn Dixon planned, to venture to places historic and unique.

From the Publisher

This travelogue is given deeper meaning and interest by the inner journey that parallels it. For the author structures his travels to explore the music that he encounters along the way. And each important musical experience is available as an online resource to listen to and absorb what it teaches us about the importance of music to humanity. This is a fascinating journey to the edge of current thinking in brain physiology: how does music work in our brain? There are some fundamental revelations happening right now in science that Glenn helps explain in the context of what he experienced and what we are able to listen to on his website.

Chris Robinson Travel Show