Forum Sem 2 Week 1

Upon searching for Listening i found that that a good percentage of the hits were about communication and learning to be a good social listener. Which, at first, i thought was quite abstract from what i was searching for. But in actual fact a lot of these websites' advice could be applied to Listening to music. Engaging with other people and being genuinely interested is a metaphor for paying attention to what is being played and devoting your time to the one activity of listening to the music. It also tells us to look at the music (or rather listen to the music) in context. Genuinely interested is an interesting phrase. Being genuinely interested in what somebody has to say is a lot like listening to and engaging in music. Although we may not agree with what everybody has to say, it is polite and expected to at least act interested. The same applies to listening, having an understanding of the context (i.e. time, place, social context, composer style, influences etc...) gives us a deeper understanding and hopefully an appreciation for the piece. I know this may seem obvious, but the idea of music as a language is really amplified by these concepts. Listening to music (or perhaps writing music) as a conversation between either instruments, sections or the composer with the listener gives added appreciation for the pieces listened. I know I've heard this from many a music appreciator, but I've never actually looked at it from this perspective. Music, writing, playing and listening follows (or to the appreciator should follow) polite social conventions of conversation. Actually listening to music, or devoting time to listening is the polite way of engaging with music.

References:

Whittington, Stephen. Lecture. "Listening." 13/7/08/ Adelaide University.

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm