Listening to Music

Music is a part of everyone's life, but they may not realize the extent of its importance. Bauer (2014) says for centuries, music has been used "as a part of ceremonies, for entertainment, as a means of relaxation, and for pure enjoyment" (p. 105). Many people enjoy listening to music, but they may not comprehend the difference between hearing or listening to music. Listening to music requires deeper attention and understanding than hearing a song playing in the background. Music listeners focus on the details, but must be able to comprehend what is happening in the music before determining if they prefer it or not.  Due to this reasoning, it is the goal of educators to teach students to be "lifelong music listeners" (Bauer, 2014, p. 109).

Music invokes a variety of responses to humans. For most of the students in my school, they are able to determine whether they like or dislike a song they hear, but their quick response is always based on whether they do, or do not, prefer the genre of it. What they fail to do, is to listen with an analytical ear to details such as dynamics, lyrics, tempo, tonality, and rhythm before making their final determination. As a music appreciation teacher, band, and choir director, I have found it very important for students to experience multiple genres and forms of music.

Students will always have particular songs and genres that they prefer and connect to over others. Though this is the case, I have experienced that the more they understand about music the more they appreciate all forms and genres. When I ask a student to use music terminology to discuss what he likes/dislikes about a song and/or what the song makes him feel, he is encouraged to listen and to make a deeper connection. Regardless of his immediate reaction, he is encouraged to listen to a new song multiple times to see whether he will gain or lose a preference for it. It is also important for him, and all students, to appreciate and understand a wide variety of music so they can respect the musical preferences of their peers. When a student immediately talks negatively upon an initial hearing of a song he is unfamiliar with, he is disrespecting his peers. As a an adolescent, this is difficult to understand.

New digital technologies such as iPads, iPhones, Spotify, iHeartRadio, etc., has made it extremely easy to introduce new music to a group of students. Students and teachers can now randomly search for a wide variety of music with just a couple clicks on a screen. With a couple more presses of a button, they can immediately share what they found via Twitter, Facebook, or Spotify, and can even digitally download the song to a playlist. It is our job as music educators to make students aware of what is out their, teach them to be lifelong learners through listening, and to appreciate all forms and genres of music, whether they prefer it or not.