# Regarding the listening habits of classical music enthusiasts



## FallingLark (Dec 25, 2020)

Hello, I have a general question which I would like to pose as someone who wonders about listening to classical music, and your active and passive relationship to it.  Do you listen to it daily, and if so, at what time? Do treat the listening with as much attention and concentration as reading a book, or do you follow the score making notes about the composition or the recording? I have read that some people solely listen with no distractions. Do you believe that you cannot be distracted on your computer and listening at the same time in order to still gain a proper appreciation of the music?

Excluding live concerts or watching operas with all their visual elements, or reading libretto, I find it far removed to start listening to symphonies unless I find time for the sole concentration in doing so, or perhaps going for a walk while I listen.

The simple thread of my question, directed more towards enthusiasts and not exactly professional musicians, is do you have a set habit for listening to classical music? Is this the sole way you're able to gain the most from it, or does it seem to leave your life at times or be confined to something of a background hobby?


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

I listen to pieces mostly in the background; sometimes I listen to a piece intentively. Rarely do I watch/listen to a score video.

I listen to music for at least a few hours a day. I tend to listen to Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and 19th century most of the time, though I listen to early/mid 20th century music a lot, too.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Lets start with your own habits OP.


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## FallingLark (Dec 25, 2020)

Well typically over the course of one or two days, I will watch in opera in the evening or sometimes listen to recording in the afternoon (distracted). Or walking and listening, but my engagement with classical music is just a few times a month to be perfectly modest.

I have no habit at this time it's whenever my interest arises.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

The only time of the day I don't tend to listen to music is the morning. When I listen, it's with my full concentration except when I'm driving.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I listen daily on average (I'm sure there are days here or there every few weeks in which I do not.

I almost always listen to something while cooking before dinner, on my Bose stereo speaker.

At night after the family goes to bed I listen on my Sony MDR-Z7 headphones. Whether it is the only thing I'm doing varies. Sometimes I'm reviewing something for my Karajan thread. Sometimes I'm reading news. Sometimes I am browsing idly. Sometimes I am drawing.


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## Axter (Jan 15, 2020)

As far as I am concerned,

On full concentration: Yes, absolutely, with eyes closed almost during entire session.

On timing: it depends on the piece. As an example, Mahler’s 1st is for me a morning symphony, so is Beethoven’s 4th. I love to listen to them early mornings. Beethoven Violin Concerto for example I listen in the evenings. Operas are mostly Sunday afternoons to early evenings, etc.... so it really depends. 
Also as I find the sound of orchestras make a seasonal difference to me too. I don’t know why, but Vienna Philharmonic has a warming effect, that suits well for winter months, Chicago Symph. on the other hand has a cooling effect to me, so I love hearing them in summer months.
It doesn’t mean I am strict with these strange “listening habits”, but thats what i mostly do....


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

A minimum of 2 hrs/day in the evening 10pm to midnight starting off listening to local CM station switching to CDs if the station is broadcasting music that I dislike always with a couple of glasses of Red. For serious listening it is through my HiFi set up with CDs.


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## gvn (Dec 14, 2019)

A very good question!

Most days I listen in 2 or 3 blocks.

1. To start the day (before or after breakfast) I usually play something about 30 mins long, fairly serene but with lots of musical substance to occupy the mind. Something like (e.g.) a Mozart concerto or a Renaissance mass or one of Brahms's collections of half a dozen songs. I concentrate entirely on the music; if I allowed other things to distract me, the music wouldn't do what I want it to do.

2. In the evening my wife & I nearly always have a 1.5 to 2.5 hour concert. "Serious" orchestral music or chamber music or piano music, or an act of a full-length opera or ballet or oratorio or spoken drama (we listen to classic audio recordings of Shakespeare plays etc as often as operas). Again, whatever we're listening to is the focus of attention, but we're not as silent as in the morning; from time to time, we discuss what we're hearing, though not to the extent of interfering with listening. If I'm listening to opera I'll generally arm myself with a libretto (even if it's an opera I know very well).

3. SOME days I also play music in the background while doing daily tasks. I can't seem to manage really "serious" music in the background, as many people do. I get too involved in what I'm hearing (especially if it's well performed). With some kinds of "serious" music I also feel _guilty_ if play it without giving it my full attention. So, for background music, I generally listen either to something specifically designed for that purpose (Telemann's Table Music, Mozart's divertimenti) or to very "light" music (Strauss waltzes etc).


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I don't have a lot of free time, so I have to squeeze in listening when I can, so that means a lot of it is in the background. And that's not by choice but by necessity. But I listen pretty much every day. My wife doesn't share my interest, so after 5:00 I usually devote myself to things we can share together. 

Ideally, I listen with a marked-up score.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I think over time I've been able to multi-task while listening to Classical. I only consult the score if I hear something interesting that pricks my ear. Just sitting and listening to a Mahler symphony is like imprisonment to me. But I do have a lot of free time, unlike Manx above, so maybe to him it's a form of escapism to just immerse in the music with a score.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I invariably do something while listening. This quite often means cooking or baking, but with working from home most of this year, I occasionally throw on a disc when I'm not in one of those interminable video calls that seem to have taken over my life!

The exception to this would be a serious listen to an opera, where I would follow the libretto. Or occasionally I'll just pull up my Eames chair in front of my speakers and close my eyes. But that hasn't happened in a while. I should start doing that again.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Unless I'm at a concert, or reading a libretto, I've always been doing something else while listening -- most often reading. I'm good at absorbing what I hear while otherwise occupied.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

As an avid reader, much of my discretionary time is spent reading--either books or on the Internet--or arguing/engaging with people on the Internet. Being also an insomniac, my listening to CM occurs at night via YouTube, almost invariably videos of live concert performances. I find these--like my listening to other genres of music in the same way--very satisfying and illuminating, engaging as such experiences do, both the aural and the visual aspects of the "listening" experience, and by rooting the music within a "living" context of actual people making music--not merely sounds floating in the air.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

My listening habits are as such:

I only listen to the various genres and subgenres of music I am a fan of, when I can dedicate all my attention toward it. I hardly ever listen to music when I am engaged in some other activity, or as background music. 

First of all, none of the various genres of music I listen to are conducive to background music, or music to listen to while multitasking. 

And second, music is by far my favorite art form, and I am usually emotionally and/or intellectually transported while listening. I want to experience that as much as possible, and not giving music as much attention as possible, all but eliminates that happening. I would rather not listen to music as much as I want, as opposed to listening more without giving it proper attention. 

My current approximate music listening breakdown is something like this:

Classical about 35%, progressive music (various subgenres) about 35%, and jazz (various subgenres) about 30%. All of these require varying amounts of active listening to get the fullest from them.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I can't read books and listen to music at the same time. When I read a book, I am surrounded by silence.

I listen to music while I create lessons, mark assignments, putter around the house, make dinner, look on the internet, do a crossword puzzle. When I am here on TC I am almost always listening to music at the same time so I never click on the youtube links people post here.

I am a bit too fidgety to sit and just listen to music, I feel like I must always be doing something. I have been known to read a score and listen to the music at the same time, however, that's pretty rare. 

I can listen to music and mark assignments because my marking doesn't involve dedicated reading of essays. 

I almost always post on current listening five albums at a time, though I don't always listen to all five on the same day. The five are a logical (to my ears) grouping. Sometimes, I go two or three days without listening to any music because of work demands, but typically I will listen to between five and ten CDs a week. I am at home right now for the Christmas break, so I am listening to more music.


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## Littleman (Dec 25, 2020)

Being retired I average 4 to 5 hours a day of listening to music. Half of that is in the evening in a dedicated music room, streaming Qobuz or Amazon HD and playing a few online games if I'm "discovering...or playing collected and favored SACD's for full focused immersion. The rest of the listening is as background...but never aural wallpaper...it has to be music that says something or I will get annoyed. Fortunately my wife is on the same page with these habits....


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## JakeWebster (Dec 26, 2020)

I listen for most of the time I am home. I use Spotify, which is amazing. Sometimes I read or play video games with the music on.


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