# Hearing or really listening.



## mwd (Apr 7, 2012)

Frequently people comment on music which they have heard whilst doing something else.

Are they just hearing it, rather than listening? 

Over the years, as my interest in classical music developed I have found myself having to listen exclusively and abandon any activity I might have originally been engaged in. 

What to readers think?

MWD.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

I've found the best way to listen is to disconnect from the analytical mind. Become a blank canvas that the music gets splashed on. If you go in with any preconceived notions or biases, you will never get an accurate picture. To me, that's truly listening.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I have experienced the same. With pop music, just put it on and when the disc's done, it's done. Not so, with classical. I compensate by playing each disc as many times as required until I feel that I have _really heard_ it entirely. I leave it in the 5CD player and in about 4 hours, it will have another playing (unless I skip it for a cycle). Sometimes, though, I will literally drop everything and just revel in the music for a while. It's difficult to put my life on hold for the entire day, or even a full disc at a time, but it is enjoyable, when I am able to do so.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I don't think it's possible to critically listen while doing other things at the same time.
When I attend concerts, I notice quite a few people reading the programs as the music is being performed. They are just "hearing" it, if that. Superficial listening.

Good for you in abandoning other activities and listening exclusively!


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> I have experienced the same. With pop music, just put it on and when the disc's done, it's done. Not so, with classical.


That mentality is, according to my roommate, why he thinks pop and rock are better than classical, because he doesn't have to put as much attention on it most of the time. 

But yeah, I really listen to music when I'm walking, cleaning, or when I'm just online: really mundane stuff I don't need to pay much attention to so I can focus more on the music. If I ever have music on when I'm doing homework or reading, then I'm not listening, I'm just hearing


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I don't think it's possible to critically listen while doing other things at the same time.
> When I attend concerts, I notice quite a few people reading the programs as the music is being performed. They are just "hearing" it, if that. Superficial listening.
> 
> Good for you in abandoning other activities and listening exclusively!


Hey! I've been known to look at the program if what I'm listening to has lyrics.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

I often have music on while I'm at work, but I'm certainly not getting as much out of it as I would be sat down at home with the score. I have to turn it off to get any serious thinking done.

I can listen pretty deeply while I'm doing boring menial tasks, though. I often listen to Schoenberg while cleaning the bathroom, for instance.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Tristan said:


> Hey! I've been known to look at the program if what I'm listening to has lyrics.


I will especially be watching YOU!


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

I often find myself hearing without listening. I don't mind because many pieces do make nice background music. If I really want to concentrate, I will often go for a walk whilst listening on my ipod. Or (although I am musically somewhat illiterate) I will listen whilst reading the score as it prevents the mind from drifting. I also like reading the text when there is one. But I do find it problematic when people criticise pieces (or classical music as a whole) without properly paying attention.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Well, when folks are paying $75 or more to sit in Carnegie Hall and are reading the programs as the music plays, I wonder what they are spending all that money for. Many cheaper ways to get background music.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

If I know the music really well, I can also do other things at the same time and still enjoy the music. If it's new, I listen with full attention.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

It depends on how well I know the music to begin with. A good college friend will usually put on music while we're visiting, and as we chat I can pay enough attention to remark on the qualities of what we're hearing. For instance, once he put on an Eroica which was not only original-tempo fast, but a real thought-through performance too ... and as we talked about other things, I was able to discern and remark upon that fact. In the early '70s, when Martha Argerich's Liszt b-minor sonata first came out, he played it for me enthusiastically, but I didn't really know the work, and other then terrific pianism I couldn't really comment. 30 years later, he put it on for me as we were enjoying pre-dinner conversation and, knowing the work well, I could hear the specialness while we talked. Kind of the musical version of multi-tasking.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

One of my favorites on the topic is from Stravinsky,
_"Even a duck can hear."_

A lot of classical fans will put on a recording of something _with which they are already quite familiar from prior concentrated listening_, and then not give it full attention -- rather like a familial friend in the room who doesn't have to say or do much of anything to nicely change or add to the environment.

There is nothing like concentrated listening, i.e. just listening or following along with a score. I think you will find most classical music listeners (and among others, those who listen to Jazz, too) at least sometimes "just sit and listen" while a recording is playing: theoretically, that is what any audience member does at a live performance.

The music does not have to be classical or jazz to command a listener's entire focus: right now, some teens are fully listening to some pop song, hanging upon every note and word of the text with absolute full concentration.

Ergo: It is more a matter of how hungry you are to be completely in the picture, I suppose.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

ahammel said:


> .... I often listen to Schoenberg while cleaning the bathroom, for instance.


:lol: Serious? That's funny.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I actually don't like music playing while I'm doing something else because it becomes noise and I get annoyed with it.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

With my hectic life, and my wife away at school, it's extremely difficult to do nothing but listen to music. My sons see to that. Still, I probably have music playing about 85% of the time I'm awake. It's a good way to familiarize with new pieces through absorption and repetition. I'll often choose an hour's worth of music to listen to in the evenings, after my two distractions (sons) are in bed. I also get great listening opportunities while driving and during physical therapy. 

As for listening with no distractions, I once had a fantastic experience. Laying on the peak of Mt. Sinai around midnight, staring at the stars and listening to Led Zeppelin. That was a decent evening.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

ahammel said:


> I often have music on while I'm at work, but I'm certainly not getting as much out of it as I would be sat down at home with the score. I have to turn it off to get any serious thinking done.
> 
> I can listen pretty deeply while I'm doing boring menial tasks, though. I often listen to Schoenberg while cleaning the bathroom, for instance.


I knew Schoenberg's music must have some purpose!


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

hpowders said:


> I knew Schoenberg's music must have some purpose!


Musical edification, wonderful melodies, contrapuntal brilliance...


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

scratchgolf said:


> With my hectic life, and my wife away at school, it's extremely difficult to do nothing but listen to music. My sons see to that. Still, I probably have music playing about 85% of the time I'm awake. It's a good way to familiarize with new pieces through absorption and repetition. I'll often choose an hour's worth of music to listen to in the evenings, after my two distractions (sons) are in bed. I also get great listening opportunities while driving and during physical therapy.
> 
> As for listening with no distractions, I once had a fantastic experience. Laying on the peak of Mt. Sinai around midnight, staring at the stars and listening to Led Zeppelin. That was a decent evening.


That's some great imagery there. What were you listening to from Zep: Stairway to Heaven? Before I entered the military in 1974, I used to listen to a lot of progressive rock such as ELP and the later Beatles whilst hanging out in Boulder, Colorado at the foot of the Rockies. Thanks for reminding me of those happy times! Nothing like mind expanding music in the clean, crisp air and nothing but the moon and stars for company. :cheers:


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Actually it was II, IV, and Physical Graffiti. In my Discman :lol: . The stars in the Middle East are amazing, once you get away from the urban centers. They're also much easier to appreciate in Egypt, when you know you're not in imminent danger. In Afghanistan I didn't dare put two head phones in: Never. The stars were brilliant there as well but any given second they would be joined by tracers and explosions. It's strange really. Occasionally we'd be in an intense fire-fight and everything would stop for maybe an instant. I'd notice something like the stars and it would take me away, if only for a moment. Very bizarre but also a reminder that we're very insignificant in the grand scheme of things.


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