# What's your listening process?



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

How do you digest a piece of music that you have never heard before? Let's say you have a new CD with a work that you are unfamiliar with. How do you go about digesting the work?

I bring this up because my usual process has been to let the music run while I am driving my car around or just working on a computer. I admit that this isn't very focused listening -- a bit of musical wallpaper, if you will. Sometimes it is active listening and sometimes passive. I will let the disc run its course multiple times over the course of days or weeks and at some point I find that the music really comes into focus. At that point truly active listening and enjoyment happens.

What is your process?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

20centrfuge said:


> How do you digest a piece of music that you have never heard before? Let's say you have a new CD with a work that you are unfamiliar with. How do you go about digesting the work.
> 
> I bring this up because my usual process has been to let the music run while I am driving my car around or just working on a computer. I admit that this isn't very focused listening -- a bit of musical wallpaper, if you will. Sometimes it is active listening and sometimes passive. I will let the disc run its course multiple times over the course of days or weeks and at some point I find that the music really comes into focus. At that point truly active listening and enjoyment happens.
> 
> What is your process?


I don't but CD'S I never heard, when something interesting is being played on the radio and it keeps my attention I try it to get from the library , if I like it again I buy it.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

I usually wake up quite early in the morning and I take my couple of hours before breakfast or going to work to listen to the new pieces. If available I follow the score. Sometime I listen to a new piece twice ore more.

In my evenings and/or weekends I tend to avoid new music, since I'm often distracted by the rest of my life. I hate if I have to interrupt my 'active' listening, so I use to listen to already familiar pieces in a bit more passive way. 

I never listen at work or better, I mostly hear musical wallpaper played in my office.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I too listen passively at first, more often than not in headphones at work after I have ripped the CD to my iPod. It is only during my deep listen sessions that I focus on the piece, and with my guided randomization playlist for the deep listens, it can be months before I get around to focused listening. 

In spite of this, there are often parts that stand out demanding my attention during the passive listens anyway. These may prompt an early insertion into the deep listen schedule. 

The two levels of listening can sometimes reveal different things about a work, but more often the deep listen creates a better appreciation, as you might expect.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> ...my usual process has been to let the music run while I am driving my car around or just working on a computer. I admit that this isn't very focused listening -- a bit of musical wallpaper, if you will. Sometimes it is active listening and sometimes passive.


I have found that sometimes passive listening is better. Once I find a piece I discern has substance I listen to it until I understand it. Only at that point do I decide if I like it or reject it. The key is to listen for the composer's voice.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Open ears
Open mind
Close eyes
Play music


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

20centrfuge said:


> What is your process?


Several attempts until the music catches my brain and ears at their most receptive. Especially going back and forth between tonal and seial works. Timing is everything.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Becca said:


> Open ears
> Open mind
> Close eyes
> Play music


This is wonderful advice Becca. I need to do more of it myself. Closing one's eyes does help one to concentrate on the music. I would also add, if possible, do this in a dark room.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

1. I choose the CD I want to listen to.

2. I load the CD into the CD player.

3. I sit down.

4. I press play with the remote.

5. I listen to the music.

You are free to copy this process and use it. Don't worry. I won't come after you.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

I try to listen to it carefully and with full attention from beginning to end, trying to hear harmony and melody, counterpoint, all the voices, every note. Anything less would seem inadequate for getting to know a new piece.

edit: sometimes I consult a score if the rhythm is complex, so I can group the notes mentally in the correct fashion. Sometimes I give up on this though, and sometimes it's easier to group them correctly by listening to how the performers stress certain notes than by thinking about the score. I also try to hang on to notes and follow phrases to their end. But this is all pretty basic and I'm sure every competent listener does all this.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Klassic said:


> This is wonderful advice Becca. I need to do more of it myself. Closing one's eyes does help one to concentrate on the music. I would also add, if possible, do this in a dark room.


Whenever I try to close my eyes and listen to music I inevitably end up falling asleep. :lol:


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## Martyn Harper (Jan 27, 2016)

I buy CDs. Then I upload them onto iTunes. Then I download them onto my 120gb iPod Classic. Every night I walk for about 1hr 15 mins in the countryside. This is when I listen to classical music. Initially I listen to every work twice with close concentration. I will later re-visit works. I listen through Sennheiser Momentum over-ear headphones which deliver a warm, naturalistic sound. I tend not to be able to immerse myself completely in music at home because I live in a small house with my wife and two children (so quite a few distractions!). I listen to Spotify when I am working on the computer; this helps me to research different composers (and works) - effectively as a 'try before you buy' mechanism.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

My listening process always involve wide reading first about the work's history: composition history, historical context of the piece (when it was written in what circumstance), how the first audiences reacted if we know, and the history of the work since then to today (when was it revived, and or how often it was performed etc.) Then come the educated listening experience which helps to enjoy it more.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

My process sounds incredibly dry to most people, but from my perspective it's good and "wet". What I do is print out a pdf or purchase the sheets somehow, and read about the music if I possibly can. Then I turn it on and follow along as best I can with the sheets. Even when I can't do that, I often try to visualize the music and think thematically about it.

I must sound relentless and one dimensional, but that's really how I get the most entertainment out of music.


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## Johnhanks (Feb 21, 2016)

Becca said:


> Open ears
> Open mind
> Close eyes
> Play music


I tried this, but after step 3 I couldn't find the Play button.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

I will just play it through for a few times, either casually or focused. If I find something interesting, listen more. If not, throw it away. If it really exites me. I will check the score.


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

Lukecash12 said:


> My process sounds incredibly dry to most people, but from my perspective it's good and "wet". What I do is print out a pdf or purchase the sheets somehow, and read about the music if I possibly can. Then I turn it on and follow along as best I can with the sheets. Even when I can't do that, I often try to visualize the music and think thematically about it.
> 
> I must sound relentless and one dimensional, but that's really how I get the most entertainment out of music.


"relentless"? You sound thorough as opposed to a casual approach. That's not dry - that's musical. Liszt would approve! You are getting two things done for the time of one.

_Our_ listening is one-dimensional. What are you doing is assessing, reading, listening and feeling the music at the same time -- 4D!


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## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> How do you digest a piece of music that you have never heard before? Let's say you have a new CD with a work that you are unfamiliar with. How do you go about digesting the work?
> 
> I bring this up because my usual process has been to let the music run while I am driving my car around or just working on a computer. I admit that this isn't very focused listening -- a bit of musical wallpaper, if you will. Sometimes it is active listening and sometimes passive. I will let the disc run its course multiple times over the course of days or weeks and at some point I find that the music really comes into focus. At that point truly active listening and enjoyment happens.
> 
> What is your process?


Avoid reading historical background that will unnecessarily color my perception of music. Start the piece while reading something or on the internet. Repeat the music whenever a passage doesn't make sense. Voila! You're done.


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