As musicians, we often hear about the importance of 'listening skills'. But what are they? How do we learn to listen?
The more I find out about music, the more that it seems to me that listening is at the heart of everything. I recently heard a professional musician describe himself as someone that 'uses his ears' for a living. What distinguishes 'listening' from 'hearing' is a focus and a level of attention that we are culturally unaccustomed to. Music is ubiquitous, but often relegated to a background activity. We might hear it, but do we listen?
As a performer, I really believe that listening to examples of excellent music is a great way to learn. Hearing a sound you love is the first step to emulating it. Connecting with the music as a listener can be a powerful emotional experience, and that feeling of connection can be brought into our playing. As a saxophonist, I want to hear and emulate great sax players, but there is much to be learned from musicians in many genres and styles. One of the most affecting musical performances I recently experienced was to hear (and see!) violinist Pinchas Zukermann with the English Chamber Orchestra in a rehearsal of a Beethoven octet, in a film made in the 1970s by Christopher Nupen. Broadcast on BBC Four a few weeks ago, the sheer joy of music making that came across was amazing. I wanted to join in.
Recent research published in the scientific journal Nature has some reassuring messages, reporting on findings by psychologist John Sloboda that listening to music can reveal what he calls 'hidden musical competence', and that musical competence can be improved by mere exposure to music, regardless of training. If that's not a good reason to get listening, I don't know what is!
