subject: How To Listen To Music [print this page] New music website Songeist is building a music community where everyones voice can be heard. The full site (launching next year) will allow you to listen to music, discover new music, download music and participate in the music community. It will be a step ahead of other music websites in terms of music distribution and is tailor made for new bands themselves who can sell music online, link to their audio samples and learn how to promote a band. It will be a lively and interesting place to discuss ideas about music of all different genres. How can one listen to music in an intelligent way? Lets discuss how to listen to music:
When it comes to learning how to talk in some kind of coherent fashion about a complicated subject like music, says Lorin Wilkerson, the challenges for the new music enthusiast are manifold. How do you grasp the basic concepts? How do you apply them to the new music you are hearing? How do you speak intelligently to someone who might know a great deal more about it than you do? Ideally, you would take a community education course such as music appreciation or music history to help lay a good foundation.
But if the boss has suddenly invited you to a Mozart symphony, or youre the lucky one who gets to entertain a well-heeled, music-loving client in town next week and you need to figure something out right now, there may not be time for that. Have no fear however; with a little preparation you can carry on a basic conversation about music. Here are a few basic tips to get started:
Listen to music! Because thats what music is all about. Without taking time to do some thoughtful, intelligent listening, there is no possible way to even begin to glimpse the soul of any kind of new music. The most immediately accessible avenue is your local radio station. If not, dont worry; with music websites you can listen to music from anywhere in the world. Radio is great because you can listen to music introduced by knowledgeable DJs who will help give you insight into what you are hearing. Interviews with performers, and composers on these music websites can be very revealing as well.
Try to listen to music in different ways. If you want to be able to talk about new music intelligently though, you will also have to listen with some thoughtfulness. Play the track again. Think about how it makes you feel, the images it brings to mind. Does it remind you of anything, of some other style of music or some time or place in your own life? Does it make you feel anything new or unexpected? Dont be afraid to open your mind and heart and be both analytical and emotional. The perception of new music is a completely subjective exercise, so in order to have anything worthwhile to say about it youve got to decide for yourself what this music does or doesnt mean to you. Listen repeatedly over several days or weeks; sometimes new music can take time to grow on you, but once it gets under your skin, the love of it never leaves.
If the ultimate goal is to converse with a music lover be wary of merely parroting others thoughts. Without some understanding of your own youll quickly be hung out to dry in a conversation with a knowledgeable listener. Reading what music critics think can be a good way to help form opinions, but never substitute those opinions for your own. With a little reading and insightful listening, youll do just fine in your own words. Dont be afraid to jot down a deep thought you may have upon listening to or reading something; it will help you recall it in conversation later on.
Dont be afraid to admit you are new to the music community. Nothing entices a classical music lover to open up like saying Hey, Im new to this but Im very intrigued, and heres what I think so far. That simple phrase will work like a magic, golden key, unlocking an interchange of ideas that will unfold effortlessly and naturally, the way any good conversation should. And for you it could be the start of a profound new understanding both of the music you already love and the unimaginably immense, incalculably beautiful world of new music.
