Music appreciation and _actually_ listening

[clouseau]

A more general subject. Basically, how much do we ACTUALLY listen to music?

Music-listening today has become more of an unconscious activity. We listen music to relax, to study, to clean the house, to eat and for various other reasons. There is music playing along in the movies, in the bars we go out, in the commercials, in the shopping mall. But how often do we sit in our living room, put on a CD and just stand still, totally focused on our aural experience, doing nothing else?

No doubt, among music lovers and practitioners, there will be some who do that but from my experience those are not too many. And in a sense, this attentive form of listening, is the core of music performance. Firstly, how will someone perform, if he isn't listening carefully to the sound he produces and secondly and more important, how will someone ever create something beautiful if he/she isn't able to fully appreciate the great art that has been created by others? Imagine a painter who has never looked carefully to any painting in his life, how influenced and inspired could he possibly be?

Maybe the best way to approach true listening is to pick short pieces and try to listen each and every note from beginning to end and make a habit out of it. Then gradually move to bigger pieces.

Do you agree with the above or not? How else could active listening be promoted?

[beethovenfan01]

I actively listen to music in several ways.

When I am planning to learn a piece,  I often listen to multiple interpretations of it, carefully picking apart each one at each point, trying to decide which I like best and most want to emulate. This kind of listening is, for me, very cerebral and analytic. I must force myself to be unbiased, like a music critic--so that the bias that results most clearly matches I believe to be the most excellent interpretation, encouraged but not limited by what others say.

But when I listen to a piece for enjoyment, I usually allow myself to be swept up in the music, and allow a "mental movie" play out. This way, I can more deeply appreciate the work and the composer's intention. When I am performing, it is much the same: while practicing, I prepare the story that I see in the music, then express it in my performance.

Neither method is better than the other, and each has its purpose. What do y'alls think of these methods? What can I learn here?

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Learn theory

[hardy_practice]

Maybe the best way to approach true listening is to pick short pieces and try to listen each and every note from beginning to end and make a habit out of it. Then gradually move to bigger pieces.

Do you agree with the above or not? How else could active listening be promoted?

Yes.  You need an excellent knowedge of forms.  Also start reading single line music in your head, then add a line.  You won't believe how deeply you hear!

[pianoplunker]

A more general subject. Basically, how much do we ACTUALLY listen to music?

Music-listening today has become more of an unconscious activity. We listen music to relax, to study, to clean the house, to eat and for various other reasons. There is music playing along in the movies, in the bars we go out, in the commercials, in the shopping mall. But how often do we sit in our living room, put on a CD and just stand still, totally focused on our aural experience, doing nothing else?

No doubt, among music lovers and practitioners, there will be some who do that but from my experience those are not too many. And in a sense, this attentive form of listening, is the core of music performance. Firstly, how will someone perform, if he isn't listening carefully to the sound he produces and secondly and more important, how will someone ever create something beautiful if he/she isn't able to fully appreciate the great art that has been created by others? Imagine a painter who has never looked carefully to any painting in his life, how influenced and inspired could he possibly be?

Maybe the best way to approach true listening is to pick short pieces and try to listen each and every note from beginning to end and make a habit out of it. Then gradually move to bigger pieces.

Do you agree with the above or not? How else could active listening be promoted?

We cannot have music if we dont listen on some level. If I were a music teacher I would stress listening as #1 to having success with any piece of music. But I dont think it is natural to be all-in all the time in a particular way when we have to do things like eat, pay the rent, etc.  "Music-listening" today is the same from an aural-human sense as it always has been ( anecdotal opinion)  but there are so many forms of media and the ability to re-play when you choose it does make it "cheaper" to walk out of the room and come back later to listen. You can choose what time of day you want to listen to something. I remember "listening" to the radio for hours hoping to hear a favorite song  - sort of like Charlie Brown waiting for the Great Pumpkin.   

[beethovenfan01]

Learn theory

Yes I probably should be more aware of theory. I'm pretty lazy in this area; I get really involved with theory when we're talking about composers like Schubert and Chopin, where it's pretty clear cut; and I generally do an over-view analysis of a piece before I start playing it. But yes, I think probably need to be more aware of theory in general.

[clouseau]

Beethovenfan01: I totally agree with your method of approaching a piece. Even the way you listen to music for pure enjoyment (not as analytical as when searching for interpretation ideas) is some form of engagement. I know many might disagree, but music not taken in consciously is perceived as unorganized sound (aka noise) from the brain, therefore a distraction to anything we might be doing at that moment.

hardy_practice: I do that often myself, its interesting especially with polyphonic music but also with other genres like jazz, to focus for example on what the drummer or the bassist does. This method of isolating and focusing on a particular aspect is certainly a good practice in attentive listening. Other aspects to concentrate on could be rhythm, dynamics, phrasing, articulation, the balance between the voices, harmony, form. While this way one can't fully apprehend the music (as the focus is only on a small part of it) its much better than when music just plays in the background, while the mind is occupied with something else. And it might be the right step towards refining the listening experience.

what has been mentioned about music theory and knowledge of forms is also very correct. Knowing how to navigate through a piece, say a sonata, knowing where first theme and the second theme is, as well as finding in the development section how those are being manipulated, is adding a lot of interest. It makes a small riddle out of every composition. Having decent knowledge of harmony is also something that could help towards understanding a composition better, though what is crucial here is not only the knowledge of harmony but being able to identify the harmonies on the spot. That is a skill that needs to be practiced.

[clouseau]

you might also find this interesting:

[brogers70]

When I'm listening to really listen, then I follow the score - that does several things. It automatically forces me to pay attention (or I'll get lost); it helps me notice inner voices, imitations, and other subtle things I might not catch with my ear alone; it gives me a chance to anticipate how something will sound an instant before it does, and to check on my ability to imagine the sound from the score.

[chomaninoff1]

I think this is such an important topic. I find myself absentmindedly listening to music a lot and it is such a different experience than active listening, which is so much more rewarding and emotionally fulfilling.

 I think a lot of it is that we are constantly multitasking, and so we get restless when we only do one thing. I know I do. I have to make an effort to just sit down put some music on and just listen.

I think if people make smalls goals to actively listen to even one short piece a day, we can get better at this.

[cuberdrift]

I play all these classical piano music but nobody understands it grr. 

You have to make them know what the soul of it is about. And that is when the exchange, the communication, begins. Otherwise it would be like reciting a beautiful poem in French to one who doesn't know the language - superb in sound yes, understood no.

[clouseau]

brogers70: that definitely is another way of staying involved. In youtube, almost any piece can be found with the actual sheet music being showed on the video, which is very practical for that purpose.

chomaninoff1: I think what you describe is pretty common, even among music enthusiasts. It's easy, especially nowadays, to get distracted by so many things. To me, the thing to remember is that many of the composers we all praise, spent many hours, days, months sometimes even years, in completing a work. This product of a life-long dedication to music, this testament of extraordinary talent is not meant to be ignored.

cuberdrift,  knowledge of form might prove essential in what you are mentioning. For instance, there are many Beethoven Sonatas I never understood in the past and found _really_ boring. When I read a formal analysis of them, it started becoming interesting and I kind of understood what the fuss is all about. Perception changes the more context you get. I always like it when performers say a few words about the compositions they are about to play.

[xdjuicebox]

I do this when I'm driving sometimes, I just run through something and really listen to it.

On the rare occasion that I have nothing to do, I'll play some Horowitz on my speakers and just sit there and drink my tea while trying my best to pretend he's in the same room playing for me

[chomaninoff1]

To me, the thing to remember is that many of the composers we all praise, spent many hours, days, months sometimes even years, in completing a work. This product of a life-long dedication to music, this testament of extraordinary talent is not meant to be ignored.

That's so true. We have such a wealth of music at our hands and it's easy to forget how composers agonized over each phrase.

[clouseau]

Sorry to bring this thread up again. I would like to add another method which maybe you find useful. Once you start listening music with more awareness, you can keep a "listening journal", where you write down the piece and composer. That way you have a good reference of what you 've heard already, so that you can explore new stuff, by the same composer, or others. As an added option, you could write below the name of the piece, one thing that caught your attention (ex. "lyric celo passage in the middle section" or "unexpected modulation in the recapitulation")