Staff Directory

How to listen to music

Oct 21

Okay, so everyone knows how to listen to music, right? I mean, you put on the CD and... well... listen. Well, believe it or not there is skill in listening. When you put on a CD to clean your room, or you play a record at a gathering, or you have music to accompany your slide show at a wedding, you are actually not really listening to music. When I say listen to music, what I mean is to put on a CD, sit in a chair and dedicate your whole mind and body to the music.
So, how to listen to music.
Rule #1- No distractions, turn off the TV, find a quiet place where there is not much happening. While it is ok to listen to music to fill empty sound in a room while you work, you are not fully appreciating the music, and are relegating the music to the level of "Muzak". When you can dedicate yourself to enjoying the music I guarantee you will hear new and wonderful things in the music you listen to.
Rule #2- Pick the right music. You want music that has enough depth and layers and complexity to make dedicated listening worth while. I suggest the classics like Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Liszt etc... Or Jazz: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck etc...
Rule #3- Listen more that once. The more you listen to a piece of music the more you will hear.
Rule #4- Each time you listen to a piece you should listen FOR something. Whether you listen for form (when a musical idea is repeated changed, or when a new idea is introduced), instrumentation (what instruments are you hearing and how has the composer blended the sounds of different instruments to make something sound different) or (if you have some music background) key changes and chord progressions.

Using this method is a great way to enjoy and find a new love of music. So next time you have fifteen minutes free, find a CD of Bach's cello suites, pick one (there are many. I like the Suite number 3 in C major V, bouree I and II), find a quiet secluded space, put it on the CD player, sit back and enjoy.