The occurrence is common enough. A person types in some band they heard about into Pandora, turn down the volume on their headphones, and now has some vague background noise as something else occupies their mind. Very often the music is very simple, docile music that simply helps to silence whatever thoughts the person would otherwise have. The person is passive. They allow the music to glaze over them with little regard for what it is.
I believe this phenomenon explains the explosion of pop music. People, accustomed to this type of listening, simply want a nice happy song when they’re happy. As long as the song has a good beat and uses one of the same regurgitated chord progressions that has been shown to produce energy, the listener is happy. This type of music suppresses critical thought. The songs are one-dimensional and seem to exist in a musical vacuum where one song has no relationship to any other. In this way a person can listen to basically the songs over and over (though in different forms) and feel perfectly content.
I have tried to understand this type of listening in a number of ways. One more pessimistic reason I’ve thought up is that perhaps some people simply aren’t disposed towards intense listening. However, given that the vast majority of people listen to relatively boring music, this would mean that the majority of people are not inclined towards active listening. I refuse to believe this.
I personally am a believer in the concept of social constructivism. Therefore, I have sought a more complex answer to this issue of listener simplicity. Perhaps the majority of people were not raised to actively listen to music. The theory would go that if a person is not placed in a critical position to music while they are young then it becomes harder for them to acquire it. To test this theory one would have to analyze music taste their musical background. I have not run this test but I’ll stick with my theory.
However, I believe that, no matter what musical background a person may come from, there is hope. All a person has to do is put themselves in a different position to music. We all learned about active listening in fourth grade, but I believe that the majority of people never internalized it, and, most importantly, never connected the concept to music.
Given the demographics of who reads the articles posted on the WVAU website I am surely preaching to the choir. However, I will still list some elements I feel are required to not just hear music, but to truly listen to it:
- First of all, remove all distractions. The music must be the primary focus of your attention.
- Let the music consume you. This may result in being taken to emotionally uncomfortable places, but like therapy, music allows you to learn how to survive when you’re in those places. Furthermore, there are always other songs there to comfort you.
- Begin to analyze the music. Identify the various elements within each song. What influences, if any, can you identify? How does the song develop? What are the relationships between the various instruments and voices you hear?
- Attempt to enjoy everything you hear. In this way you may grow to love bands and genres you never would have considered before.
- Most of all open your emotions to the music. I believe music analysis is only useful if it enables a fuller emotional appreciation of the music. However, great songs can be enjoyed through both intellectual and emotional means.
This advice is far from complete. Nor is it right. In fact, it is probably wrong given that people find their own individual way of listening to music. However, the key is to LISTEN. We live within a giant ocean of music full of beauty, ugliness, genius, stupidity, love, hate, and, above all, sound and silence. I urge you to not merely float on top of it in an inflatable kayak, but to jump in, breath in, and let the water fill your lungs. We’re all mermaids at heart.