We're all told about the difference between hearing and listening.
Most of us learn that distinction beginning in nursery school. It is one thing to hear people making noise at us. It is quite another to listen to what is being said. Maybe we listen in to what people are saying to each other. Maybe, hopefully, we listen to people when they're speaking directly to us.
But what about hearing as opposed to listening to music? We say, "I'm listening to this song." But are we actually listening? Most music is complicated as heck. There are multiple instruments to pay attention to, singers, lyrics to decode, varying rhythms and beats. We hear it all at once.
Listening to music is about integrating the whole song into a singular experience with all that variation and sound coloring existing both separately in our minds and as a part of the whole song experience. That is a major, even profound, cognitive feat.
There is also the game of musical memory. If we've heard the song before (or many times), we experience it one way. But if we've never heard it (or never truly "listened" to it), we tend to connect what we're hearing to other music we know. Each of us, actually, is a music genius. That process of memory and comparison is all about expectation and anticipation if we're listening. We tend to be musically "satisfied" by songs that both fulfill our expectations as they play on but also surprise us when they veer beyond what is anticipated.
One question I have with respect to listening is how deep sound goes inside when we listen. Music connects to our sense of time and our emotions all through the limbic portions of our brains where emotion and sensuality take place.
What happens if we work to become more mindful and aware of how we experience music and sound? Let me know your own thoughts about what you hear and feel when you listen to songs you love.
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Thanks for reading.