# The art of listening



## Researcher (Sep 22, 2011)

Hello everybody. I am very interested in finding out how different people listen to (classical) music. I am writing on music as an essential part of life, using my own and others' experiences. To that end, I would like to post here a few questions, and the more answers I get, the better, of course. They mostly refer to music played by ensembles, but also may include, for instance, a singer accompanied by a polyphonic instrument like a piano, etc. The idea is that harmony be present. These questions are:

1 - How do you listen to music? Do you pay attention to just the melody or take in the whole, vertical block of sound that includes all instruments, harmony, timbre, theme development, etc?
2 - Did you 'discover' music by yourself or were you introduced to it by a person (a teacher, a friend...)?
3 - Do you play an instrument?
4 - Is music for you more than a form of relaxation?

Many thanks for your reply.

PS: I am also very glad to answer any questions regarding what I have called the art of listening as well as the meaning of music to individuals.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

1) (The question appears not to apply to solo instruments - ?) My practice is to take in the entire 'vertical' strata of sound, and allow the 'horizontal' development to progress, with as little ratiocination as possible.

2) (? a rather awkward question) I was 'introduced' to music by hearing it - with no encouragement or discouragement applied.

3) Not unless a jewsharp counts.

4) Music can be a respite from _thinking_, a relaxation in that respect. It can exercise and unclog the pathways in the primitive brain, and so is therapeutic. It can cause feelings of association with 'noble' emotions, 'higher' realities, and so is uplifting.

I suspect that without music in my life I would be a sonuvabitch to be around, because life itself would be a sonuvabitch.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

1) At first I take in the whole thing, usually listening twice. Then if it's interesting, I'll listen for details. Ultimately, if it's a classical piece, I'll get the score and get into minutiae. 
2) My dad had a saxophone he never played when I was a little kid, and the horn fascinated me. Also I had the usual array of kids' records I reportedly was enthralled with. So it was introduced in that way. 
3) Yes; I play five but only enjoy playing one.
4) For me, music (more appropriately, art music) is more than relaxation; it is an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual experience. Of course, popular music functions for me the same as chewing gum: it's fun and disposable.


----------



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

1. As a pig from the underworld, I have ears as powerful as a dog, so I listen to all the frequencies that ordinary mortals cannot hear.

2. I actually invented music in 1953.

3. The lyre.

4. Music runs in my blood. Without it, I would be anaemic.


----------



## Researcher (Sep 22, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> 1) (The question appears not to apply to solo instruments - ?) My practice is to take in the entire 'vertical' strata of sound, and allow the 'horizontal' development to progress, with as little ratiocination as possible.
> 
> 2) (? a rather awkward question) I was 'introduced' to music by hearing it - with no encouragement or discouragement applied.
> 
> ...


I agree with you wholeheartedly. Many thanks.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Polednice said:


> 1. As a pig from the underworld, I have ears as powerful as a dog, so I listen to all the frequencies that ordinary mortals cannot hear.
> 
> 2. I actually invented music in 1953.
> 
> ...


I could tell from your posts that you listen to the Music of the Spheres.

Before 1953 there were non-random sequences of pitches and harmonics that brought pleasure; nobody knew what to call them. Thanks.

Handed to you by Orpheus himself, I believe.

That's 'anemic'.


----------



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

1. I try to pay attention to the main melodic themes of the piece. Usually the first theme presented is the most important to the piece, structurally speaking, regardless of what I'm listening to. There may be other important themes to remember besides the first one, depending on the composer. Then I listen to how those themes are developed, and when they return in their original form.

2. I suppose I really 'discovered' music when I was introduced to the Beethoven sonatas by my music-loving uncle.

3. I've played the piano for about 15 years.

4. Of course. Music isn't about relaxation, it's about the journey. There are fast, angry passages and there are passages with beautiful, soaring melodies... music listening is about following progressions from one mental state to another. Though I do admit I often find listening to classical music to be calming, and, yes, relaxing.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Ravellian, I'm entranced by your sig - again.

I don't feel like I'm in servitude to my organs, but they do restrain me. Ah, if my soul could fly free... probably full bore into a plate glass window... never mind.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Ah, if my soul could fly free... probably full bore into a plate glass window...


Ha! That belongs on a T-shirt!


----------



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

Hilltroll72 said:


> Ravellian, I'm entranced by your sig - again.
> 
> I don't feel like I'm in servitude to my organs, but they do restrain me. Ah, if my soul could fly free... probably full bore into a plate glass window... never mind.


Thanks... it's a Huxley quote I discovered while playing an online philosophical/adventure 'game' (don't ask). I would rightfully attribute it to Huxley in my sig were it not for the stupidly short character limit.


----------



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Ravellian said:


> Thanks... it's a Huxley quote I discovered while playing an online philosophical/adventure 'game' (don't ask). I would rightfully attribute it to Huxley in my sig were it not for the stupidly short character limit.


Huxley Pig?! That's Vincent Vampire's little piggy friend!


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I listen in short 15-second bursts. After each, I pause and relate what I've just heard to past life experiences. 
I was first introduced to it while still in the womb. Thankfully, unlike Aramis, my parents weren't Xenakis fans.
I thought I played the piano for many years, until my teacher suggested I try Rachmaninoff. Then I realized this whole time that _it_ had been playing _me_. 
Yes, I gave up sex for this stuff.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

1) I try to listen to everything that's going on in the piece.
2) I'm from a non musical family, so I sought out various musics on my own.
3) Not currently, but I played drums followed but guitar while growing up.
4) I don't listen to music for relaxation. I want a challenge.


----------



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

1) I listen for tone first - a single note or a single chord can be joy. An entire movement can be torture. It all depends on tone.
2) I didn't invent music (Polednice did that in 1953). I discovered it by myself in 1967.
3) I play guitar, but I am a slave to the printed music - I play nothing by ear or by memory.
4) I listen because I am obsessive. I do nothing randomly or by halves. Order and method. Order and method.


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Ravellian said:


> 4. Of course. Music isn't about relaxation, it's about the journey. There are fast, angry passages and there are passages with beautiful, soaring melodies... music listening is about following progressions from one mental state to another. Though I do admit I often find listening to classical music to be calming, and, yes, relaxing.


Nicely put. Pretty much sums up my experience and approach on the vast majority of my listening (except for the most extreme avant-garde variety but let's not go there today). The other thing I would add is about recognition, say a piece I listened to for the first time without knowing who the composer was, and if composed by one who I know very well, I am often able to identify the composer correctly.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

1. I'd like to say I listen for everything. Surely I fail, but I try. The easiest things for me to hear are melodic motifs and harmonies; the most pleasurable tends to be timbre. In general, I'd just like to hear whatever "goes on" in the music. 

2. I got lots of help from knowledgeable people. I've been lucky in that regard. I've also read books. 

3. Not well. 

4. I'd describe it as "a subject of study."


----------



## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Researcher said:


> Hello everybody. I am very interested in finding out how different people listen to (classical) music. I am writing on music as an essential part of life, using my own and others' experiences. To that end, I would like to post here a few questions, and the more answers I get, the better, of course. They mostly refer to music played by ensembles, but also may include, for instance, a singer accompanied by a polyphonic instrument like a piano, etc. The idea is that harmony be present. These questions are:
> 
> 1 - How do you listen to music? Do you pay attention to just the melody or take in the whole, vertical block of sound that includes all instruments, harmony, timbre, theme development, etc?
> 2 - Did you 'discover' music by yourself or were you introduced to it by a person (a teacher, a friend...)?
> ...


Wow!!!! I love your questions...I'd try to answer one by one (if I can). After that you can kill me if you want! LOL

1 - How do you listen to music? Do you pay attention to just the melody or take in the whole, vertical block of sound that includes all instruments, harmony, timbre, theme development, etc?

I am not a musician (that is important to say). Horizontal, vertical...I have no idea...are they just complicated words? LOL.
I listen to the whole the very first time I listen to something, afterwards, I go deeper and deeper (I listen to complicated stuff at least 4 times, e.g. Ernst Krenek) then I analyze the tiny details, the harmony, the timbre, the development since the beginning...That's why I love Wagner, Zemlinksy and moreover Franz Schreker...His "Die Gezeichneten" is a development opera, opposite to Italian opera (opera by numbers or scenes)

2 - Did you 'discover' music by yourself or were you introduced to it by a person (a teacher, a friend...)?

Both. A lot by myself, others by accident, finally by friends, I'm very open minded...sometimes I make mistakes though. My piano teacher when I was 12 was who introduced me to dodecaphonic music...I still love it.

3 - Do you play an instrument?

No! No! I learned piano but my father stopped me! Merde!

4 - Is music for you more than a form of relaxation?

It is just ALL my life, I wouldn't say I relax with music. While training and lifting weights I put opera, at home, on my car...everywhere.

I hope this information about a weirdo will be useful for you.

A little sample of development (this represents the whole opera)






Enjoy!

Best

Martin


----------



## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

"if composed by one who I know very well, I am often able to identify the composer correctly"

So do I

Martin


----------



## Researcher (Sep 22, 2011)

Many thanks for the clip, I enjoyed it, although I am not familiar with Schreker's music. I can hear the same atmosphere that Debussy, Ravel and others of the period, logically extending to Hermann's film music, loved to create. Interesting discovery. I thought I could even detect in the repetitive six notes in the beginning Ravel's motif in the slow movement of his concerto in G.


----------

