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The Shortest History of Music

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The Shortest History of Music

By: Andrew Ford
Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
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About this listen

No 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 Beyoncé 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. Ford explores:

  • Why playing history's earliest example of notated music—clay tablets from 1400 BCE Syria—doesn't produce a consistent sound
  • How colonization and the slave trade led to one region in West Africa having an unparalleled influence on world music
  • How clerical and royal support allowed early composers to invent the symphony
  • What leads humans to make music in the first place—and why music plays such a massive role in our culture.

The Shortest History of Music takes us on a lively 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.

©2025 Andrew Ford (P)2025 Tantor Media Anthropology History & Criticism Music World
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The idea of a short history of all music is great. I liked the first chapter that actually tried to engage with diverse musical traditions. But most of the rest of the book fell into the standard trap of mostly discussing Western classical composers, with a small section on African-American blues and jazz and a few mentions of other traditions sprinkled throughout.

It felt in between a popular and academic book: too many composer/musician names and musicological jargon for a non-expert, not enough details for an expert. It's hard to complain too much when there aren’t many better examples out there, but I’d probably recommend Ted Gioia’s “Music: A subversive history” instead to most readers.

Cool idea, but too Western classical-centric

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