Listening to Music

The classroom experience is intended to expose the students to a wide variety of music and sounds. The primary purposes of listening to music in the classroom are to develop sound awareness, sound discrimination and sound sensitivity.

Listening is a fundamental and essential skill. There are several basic requirements for the development of listening ability:

• the ability to concentrate
• the ability to understand what one is listening to
• the ability to remember sounds and sound sequences.

Students will often become disinterested or dislike different types and styles of music because they are unfamiliar with the sounds. The teacher should encourage curiosity and an open-minded attitude toward music listening activities. Students should be given many opportunities to listen to and investigate unfamiliar sounds and music.

It is important to choose music that will capture the attention and interest of students, particularly when beginning to use this process. Music that has strong rhythms, appealing melodic flow, obvious contrasts or unusual tone colours will usually spark the students' interest. Students will need time to develop their listening skills to be able to listen objectively to music that is unfamiliar to them. Perceptive, knowledgeable listening requires time and it may take several lessons for students to become familiar with a piece of music before any significant understanding takes place.

Students will bring their own varied perspectives and associations, including their unique cultural and personal perspectives to the listening process. In particular, the middle years student is often very peer conscious; this is a time when many students are involved in a teen sub-culture that influences what and how they listen to music. Students should be encouraged to express and discuss their personal opinions, knowing that their unique perspective will enhance other students' listening experiences.

A genuine interest and enthusiasm shown by teachers is most likely to result in students displaying a positive attitude about various pieces of music. Teachers must be willing to explore and take risks along with their students, while bringing their own experiences and background to the subject to help foster open-minded inquisitiveness. Some exploration should involve music that the students currently listen to. The teacher should be willing to investigate this, as well as all other types of music, with an open mind. If students feel comfortable bringing in and discussing their own music, they will be more receptive to approaching other less familiar music in a similar fashion.

People respond to music in various ways and at different levels. In his book Experiencing Music (1983), Richard Wingell suggest that people respond at three different levels:

The sensory level -- this refers to responding with senses, including the kinaesthetic sense. Sounds please us, make us grit our teeth, or make us move in time to the beat.

The associative level -- this refers to responding by associating events, images, past experiences, etc. with the music. A song, for example, often reminds us of a particular time in our lives. Hearing the song, we make associations with other things from that time.

The musical or formal level -- this refers to responding to music on a conscious, analytical level. We listen and, using the language of music, examine and reflect on the music.

Presented below are seven steps a teacher can follow to guide students in listening to a piece of music, live or recorded. This process* is primarily designed for listening to the music of others, but teachers could adapt it for listening to student compositions or performances. Although this process is a formal listening process, students can respond at sensory and associative levels at various steps within the process.

Breaking the listening process into steps is not always an easy task. The steps outlined are not as isolated from one another as they appear below. As well, a teacher may wish to use only certain steps to achieve specific objectives or to introduce the students to the process. However, the purpose here is to provide the teacher with a guide.

The seven steps are as follows:

• preparation
• first impressions
• description
• analysis
• interpretation
• gathering information
• informed judgment.

Discussion at this stage might focus on the following:

• brief biographical information about the composer and/or musicians
• type or style of music to be presented
• some historical and cultural insights into the music and times during which the music was composed
• questions of audience responsibility, ranging from basic points of etiquette to the more complex issues of the individual's recognition of his or her own personal biases as a listener.

Step Two
First Impressions

Ask the students to list the first five words or images that come to mind as they listen to the music. Any words will do as long as they relate to the music. Keep a list, as these words may be referred to later during the other stages. Some words will be discussed during the "Description" or "Analysis" stage (drums, violins, voices, slow, high, low, smooth, faster, higher, etc.). Some words will be discussed during the "Informed Judgment" stage (weird, exciting, boring, etc.).

Step Three
Description

Ask the students to describe what they heard. Write their descriptions on the board or on chart paper. Encourage students to respond with words such as high, low, quick, slow, complex, simple, loud, soft, drum, acoustic guitar, violins, voices, ringing, dry, smooth, etc. Draw students' attention to the elements of music and principles of composition that are appropriate for their grade level.

When you receive words which are not descriptions but are interpretations or judgments, make note of them on another part of the paper or on the blackboard. Tell the students that words such as happy, mournful or exciting express their personal opinions, since someone else may think the music is relaxing rather than irritating, or boring rather than exciting. Tell them that these interpretations are important, and will be discussed at a different time.

See if there are any common responses which might give a general description of the piece. Point out that all responses are worthwhile because we each notice different things about the music. Each student picks out or hears what is of personal interest, and describes it in his or her own unique way and language. The students will start to develop a vocabulary for describing music, which will increase as they receive more practice. Help the student develop this vocabulary by including musical terms when appropriate and encountered in their listening and other musical experiences.

Step Four
Analysis

• Does the music have repetition? Contrast?
• How does the composer/musician create variety?
• Is there tension in the music? How is it created? Is the tension resolved?
• Can you identify phrases that are alike or similar?
• What timbres are present and how are they created?
• What does the composer/musician do to try to catch your attention ("hooks")?
• Is there syncopation involved? How is it used?
• What is the tonality used? (major, minor, pentatonic, other)?
• Is harmony present?
• Can you identify the sections of a song (for example, introduction, chorus and verse)?
• Can you identify the organization or form of the music (for example; two- part, AB; three-part, ABA; rondo, ABACA)?

Students will make connections and associations with their real life experiences, as well as with their imaginations. These connections vary considerably, depending on students' cultural and personal perspectives and past experiences with music. Teachers should establish an atmosphere of trust and respect for the individual and encourage students to express their own feelings and perceptions without fear of criticism.

Many students may have some difficulty with this step if they have not used a process similar to this previously. The teacher needs to encourage students to express their individual feelings in a non-threatening fashion. Sometimes having the students write down their interpretations allows the students to express themselves without fear of peer-group pressure.

The following activities are appropriate at this stage of the listening process:

• Collect and compare the various image associations the students have with the music.
• Brainstorm a number of possible subjects, themes or moods the students associate with the music (movies or types of television shows that might use this music, for example).
• Discuss where the work might be appropriately played. In a church? Outdoors? At a concert? Discuss the importance of context.
• Discuss why a composer/musician may have written this musical work. Does it fulfil a purpose, convey a message, promote a specific feeling, etc.?
• Investigate how other composers/musicians created music in a similar fashion or with similar stimuli.
• Create tableaux in small groups to express interpretations of the music. Play the music as the class observes each group's tableau. (Tableau is a strategy often used in drama, where the students create a "still picture" with their bodies.)
• Create musical compositions in response to the music; for example, compositions with similar theme, mood, rhythm, style, form, etc.

• biographical information about the composer
• information about the social, political and cultural climate of the times in which the music was first written and performed
• information about a specific culture being studied and the role of music in that culture
• biographical information about the musicians/performers
• other music written by the same composer or from the same culture (discuss similarities and differences)
• other music written during the same time period as the piece being studied.

Care should be taken when dealing with this step when listening to the students' own performances. The object of this step in the "Listening to Music" process is to discuss the composition and what the students have gained from listening to, investigating and studying it. Should a teacher wish to encourage self- evaluation of students' own performances, questions should be provided that will encourage positive and thoughtful responses.

When discussing a composition at this step, the student might say, "I think it's boring or weird." The teacher asks, "Why?", encouraging the student to use appropriate vocabulary. The student might respond:

• "I'm not familiar with the instruments being used so the music sounds strange to me."
• "I can't hear a melody. It constantly changes and there is no repetition."
• "The voice is too high, and I'm not used to hearing that."
• "I like music that has vocals in it better than strictly instrumental music."
• "The electronic instruments don't seem to balance with the acoustic instruments."
• "The music is slow and peaceful and I like exciting music with a strong beat."
• "The rhythm in the tune is too complex for me to follow. It doesn't hold the tune together."

• "I like the way the voices harmonize."
• "There is a building of suspense that keeps me interested."
• "The timbres and variety of the instruments are pleasing to me."
• "The music is constantly changing, getting more complex. As soon as one sound gets a little boring, something else is added to keep your interest."
• "I like the guitar solo; it's really played well."
• "I like the way the melody keeps showing up in different parts of the tune played by different instruments."
• "The transition through many different sections keeps the tune exciting to me."

Discuss with the students the fact that they may not value certain music but that others might. Can they name some people who would like the selections that they didn't like? Their teacher? Their grandparents? Their friends? Why do they think these people would react in this way? The students may benefit from bringing in guests to discuss various musical preferences and viewpoints as a way to extend the listening experiences.

Summary of Listening to Music

The preceding seven steps of investigation and reflection on a piece of music should provide the students with a way to participate in the listening experience, and should encourage them to approach each new experience with open- minded curiosity. The process should help students to better understand, value and enjoy various kinds of music. The following summarizes the seven steps.

1. Preparation

Provide a context for the listening experience.

Students give their initial reactions.

Responses are influenced by their past experiences.

There are no wrong answers.

Students are taking inventory.

What do you hear?

Responses should be objective not interpretive.

Identify the relationships between and among the elements of music and the principles of composition.

Identify the structure or form.

How has the artist used the elements to achieve certain effects?

Encourage the use of the language of the discipline.

The students' perspectives, associations and experiences affect interpretation.

Associations are made through imagery, metaphor and analogy.<

What is the work about? What does it mean? Why did the artist create the work?

Provide or have the students research biographical, historical or cultural information about the work or artist.

7. Informed Judgment

The students are asked to refer back to their first impressions and support their initial opinions of the work or develop and support a new opinion.

The students are asked to consider the context of the work as part of the response.

Adapting the Listening Process For the Discussion of Student Work

Students responding to their own and their peer's work is an important part of the creative process. Responding can occur during the creative process, where the creations are presented as work-in-progress, as well as at the end of the project. Responding to works-in-progress helps students refine their compositions.

The following ideas should be considered by teachers when planning to use "Listening to Music" for the discussion of students' work:

• Before students perform their composition ensure that a trusting atmosphere is established where students are willing to take risks. Responding to their peers' work should be a learning and growing experience for students and should not include personal judgment. Student may feel particularly vulnerable when performing their compositions as it is they who are being watched, unlike a visual art work which allows for some distance between the student and art work. In order to maintain objectivity, all comments should be kept to observations about the sounds, instruments and use of elements and principals. Comments which judge the person should be discouraged. For example, the comment " I like Stacy's composition" would be better said as "I thought the rhythm in Stacy's composition was lively".
• Record on audio tape student's works-in-progress and final music compositions. To help facilitate the responding process, the recordings can be replayed several times during the process to allow students time for deeper refection. Recording works-in-progress can be compared to final products to see how the work has changed.
• Not all steps of "Listening to Music" will be used every time students are responding to their own or their peer's work. Teachers should include the steps and use a level of questioning to suit the needs and abilities of their students. To begin, teachers might choose to use the Description and Interpretation steps. As students become familiar and comfortable with the process, additional steps can be added. Teachers should be especially careful that a trusting atmosphere has been well established before any judgment is allowed. Judgment should always focus on whether or not the work has achieved the student's intended purpose.
• It is important that students base their opinions and interpretations on evidence they hear in the work itself. Teachers should always remember that students will have their own interpretations and opinions. These ideas must be assessed on the student's ability to express and justify them, and not on the student's ability to conform to the norm or to the opinions of the teacher.