Listening to Music - How Do You Do It?

In the world of music, there are endless possibilities for creativity in production. But when it comes to sitting down and listening to your favorite artists, what is the best way to do it? Most people don't think about it, but throughout the course of this article, you will obtain possible life-changing strategies to listen to your favorite music. There are 3 main methods for listening to music; perceptive listening, casual listening, and background listening. Each method will be outlined, and benefits will also be discussed. Now is the time to experiment with all of the ways you can listen to your music!

When in the state of perceptive listening, you are fully aware of your music; that is the lyrics, rhythm, all of the instruments and components of the track. This state may be difficult to achieve if you have never been a perceptive listener before. It is the most rewarding listening experience, clearing our mind of everything but the pure sound of music. We cannot achieve this state if there are other thoughts racing through our head; your mind must be completely blank, letting the music take you away. How do you know when you are in a perceptive listening state? You will become unaware of your environment (closing your eyes is strongly recommended), focusing on nothing in your life but the music going through your head. Your mood will be directed by the type of music you are listening to, and some will experience a state of Euphoria. When in perceptive listening mode, always aim to be in a Euphoric state, as it will make the music that much more enjoyable. This can lead to becoming more relaxed, having less stress, and an overall improvement in life. If you haven't given perceptive listening a try, do it right after you finish this article. What have you got to lose?

We spend a lot of time in the Casual listening mode, which is the line right between Perceptive and Background listening. You are fully aware of the lyrics/rhythm, and auditory elements are comprehended. We are usually performing some task that distracts us from the full perceptive state, so euphoria cannot be experienced. When listening casually, our mind only donates part of its attention to the music, so only part of us is affected while listening. Our mood does change along with the music, but it is generally a weaker feeling than perceptive listening. While we listen to music casually for a long period of time, our subconscious processes the information, and songs have a tendency to get stuck in our heads. Unfortunately, you cannot be fully immersed in the music, and that takes away a key element of enjoyment. Since we spend so much time casually listening to music, we think this is the most involving method of listening. Practice perceptive listening, and you will see the vast difference.

Sometimes, we have so many mind-numbing tasks to do, hitting the play button is the only way to keep our sanity. This is called background listening, and it helps us get through our challenging days. Casual listening is very common among teenagers who study for tests, and generally people who listen to music while working with their minds. This is when we are in the weakest state of music perception, and auditory elements aren't usually comprehended. You can get so caught up in a task that you forget any music is playing. Because our mind is focused on so many things, our mood will be least affected by music. Obviously, this isn't how music was intended to be listened to. So what benefits does this bring? Lets look at Johnny: Johnny is studying for his math test, and he is really struggling on a concept. He puts on his headphones on low volume background listening to help him relax, and suddenly he is able to comprehend his math problems. On the day of the test, he can actually play back the song in his head, then his subconscious will recall his studying, and that helps him recall the important math concepts. Johnny gets an A on his test....So you see where this is going; background listening affects the subconscious mind, which leads us to the final point. Memory. As shown in Johnny's case, memory can be improved by listening to music in the background. So what are you for? Listen to more background music, improve your memory!

Perceptive Listening, Casual Listening, and Background Listening. Each one has its pros and cons. When possible, try all 3 techniques, and see which one you like the most. If you haven't experienced the thrill of perceptive listening, you have to try it soon. If you haven't relaxed to some casual listening, you might want to give it a shot. Some people, however, aren't able to have music in the background while working. You know who you are. Give these techniques a shot, you never know what kind of amazing improvements could come about in your life. It's the little things that can make a big difference. Rediscover your music, rediscover the way you listen to it!

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Listening To Soothing Music Is A Great Way To Relax!

All of us like listening to music and each one of us has an individualistic preferences. We have at times listened to the 'Go-Gos' in a car or sang the 'Melody; ourselves at our graduation. We may have listened to 'Ode to Joy' at a wedding and heard Bruce Springsteen or Madonna while in college. Even though tastes differ, each one of us listens to music and has a favorite type of music and a favorite singer or band.

Music is not only fun but also gratifying. It has a soothing effect on the listener and calms the nerves. Music touches our lives in various ways that are sometimes conspicuous and sometimes subtle. And that is the reason why it is uncommon to find someone who does not listen to any kind of music.

Dentists play music in their waiting rooms and clinics. Many operation theatres have channel music running. Drivers prefer to drive through a maze of unending traffic while listening to music and even baseball players have been known to hum along during warm-up. These days most corporate houses have unobtrusive instrumental music playing in their offices all the time. This reduces job stress.

It seems that the reason why music has a comforting effect on us is because it reminds us of the first time we heard it in our mother's womb. Thus it provides us with a sense of security and well being. Many researches have been done on the physiological aspect of music and it has been discovered that Celtic or Native American music wherein the flute dominates is most relaxing. The serotonin in the body increases with the effect of music and this provides us with a feeling of elevation. Music also is known to reduce the heart rate and increase body temperature. In fact it has also been found out that any kind of music performed in person helps to put the left and the right brain in sync. Those performing also go through a cathartic effect and get a sense of accomplishment.

There are ways in which one can enhance this effect of music. The best way to de-stress yourself is to lie back with a pair of headphones and become a part of the music. Select music that has a pace slower than 72 minutes per minute. This will ease your heartbeat and relax you. Combine music with your morning walk and you will feel doubly rejuvenated by combining the goodness of exercise and music.

Sounds of nature are music to the ears and they can have a similar effect. Sit back on the garden bench and hear the music of the birds, the cricket, the wind and the rustling leaves. You can also find the sounds of the woods or the ocean captured in a CD these days.

Choose any kind of music that you like for relaxation. It is important that you enjoy the general hum and beat of the chosen music to be able to extract the maximum benefit. In our normal lives, we tend to get too busy in our past paced lives to take enough advantage of this cathartic effect of euphony.

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Music & Intelligence: Will Listening to Music Make You Smarter?

Will listening to music make you smarter? Will learning to play a musical instrument make your brain grow larger than normal?

Questions like these ones have been popping up all over the place in the past few years, and not just in scientific journals either.

In recent times the media has been fascinated by the research surrounding brain development and music, eagerly reporting on the latest studies to the delight of the music-loving parents of young children.

But all this information - and some misinformation too - has led to generalized confusion about the role of music and music training in the development of the human brain. The bottom line is this: if you're confused by all you read about music study and brain development, you're certainly not alone.

In part, this is due to the manner in which the phrase "the Mozart Effect" has been popularized by the media and bandied about to describe any situation in which music has a positive effect on cognition or behavior.

In fact the Mozart Effect refers specifically to a 1993 research finding by Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky and published in the prestigious journal Nature. The scientists found that 36 college students who listened to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata performed higher on a subsequent spatial-temporal task than after they listened to relaxation instructions or silence.

An enchanted media reported this interesting research as "Mozart makes you smarter" - a huge over-simplification of the original results.

As Rauscher explains in a later paper, the Mozart Effect was studied only in adults, lasted only for a few minutes and was found only for spatial temporal reasoning. Nevertheless, the finding has since launched an industry that includes books, CDs and websites claiming that listening to classical music can make children more intelligent.

The scientific controversy - not to mention the popular confusion - surrounding the Mozart Effect, has given rise to a corresponding perplexity for parents. They wonder: "Should my kids even bother with music education?"

In fact the answer to this question is still a resounding yes, since numerous research studies do prove that studying music contributes unequivocally to the positive development of the human brain. Other researchers have since replicated the original 1993 finding that listening to Mozart improves spatial reasoning. And further research by Rauscher and her colleagues in 1994 showed that after eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers demonstrated a 46% boost in their spatial reasoning IQ, a skill important for certain types of mathematical reasoning.

In particular, it is early music training that appears to most strengthen the connections between brain neurons and perhaps even leads to the establishment of new pathways. But research shows music training has more than a casual relationship to the long-term development of specific parts of the brain too.

In 1994 Discover magazine published an article which discussed research by Gottfried Schlaug, Herman Steinmetz and their colleagues at the University of Dusseldorf. The group compared magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brains of 27 classically trained right-handed male piano or string players, with those of 27 right-handed male non-musicians.

Intriguingly, they found that in the musicians' planum temporale - a brain structure associated with auditory processing - was bigger in the left hemisphere and smaller in the right than in the non-musicians. The musicians also had a thicker nerve-fiber tract between the hemisphere. The differences were especially striking among musicians who began training before the age of seven.

According to Shlaug, music study also promotes growth of the corpus callosum, a sort of bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain. He found that among musicians who started their training before the age of seven, the corpus callosum is 10-15% thicker than in non-musicians.

At the time, Schlaug and other researchers speculated that a larger corpus callosum might improve motor control by speeding up communication between the hemispheres.

Since then, a study by Dartmouth music psychologist Petr Janata published by Science in 2002, has confirmed that music prompts greater connectivity between the brains left and right hemisphere and between the areas responsible for emotion and memory, than does almost any other stimulus.

Janata led a team of scientists who reported some areas of the brain are 5% larger in expert musicians than they are in people with little or no musical training, and that the auditory cortex in professional musicians is 130% denser than in non-musicians. In fact, among musicians who began their musical studies in early childhood, the corpus callosum, a four-inch bundle of nerve fibers connecting the left and right sides of the brain, can be up to 15% larger.

While it is now clear from research studies that brain region connectivity and some types of spatial reasoning functionality is improved by music training, there is growing evidence that detailed and skilled motor movements are also enhanced.

Apparently the corpus callosum in musicians is essential for tasks such as finger coordination. Like a weight-lifter's biceps, this portion of the brain enlarges to accommodate the increased labour assigned to it.

In a study conducted by Dr. Timo Krings and reported in Neuroscience Letters in 2000, pianists and non-musicians of the same age and sex were required to perform complex sequences of finger movements. The non-musicians were able to make the movements as correctly as the pianists, but less activity was detected in the pianists' brains. The scientists concluded that compared to non-musicians, the brains of pianists are more efficient at making skilled movements.

The study of music definitely affects the human brain and its development, in a staggering number of ways. But what to make of all the research, especially in terms of deciding the best course of music study or appreciation for yourself or your offspring?

A 2000 article by N M Weinberger in MuSICA Research Notes makes the following excellent point: Although the Mozart Effect may not list up to the unjustified hopes of the public, it has brought widespread interest in music research to the public. And listening to ten minutes of Mozart could get someone interested in listening to more unfamiliar music, opening up new vistas.

Irregardless of the hype surrounding the Mozart Effect, the overall academic evidence for music study as a tool to aid brain development, is compelling.

At the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, Dr. Frank Wilson says his research shows instrumental practice enhances coordination, concentration and memory and also brings about the improvement of eyesight and hearing. His studies have shown that involvement in music connects and develops the motor systems of the brain, refining the entire neurological system in ways that cannot be done by any other activity. Dr. Wilson goes so far as to say he believes music instruction is actually 'necessary' for the total development of the brain.

So the bottom line is this: Music study and practice probably does aid in the development of the brain in various important ways. And after all, if you enjoy music, there is nothing to lose by trying, and everything to gain!

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and products such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. He holds an advanced degree from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He can be reached at http://www.pianolessonsbyvideo.com. He is the author of the popular free 101-week e-mail newsletter titled "Amazing Secrets Of Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 55,000 current subscribers. Those interested may obtain a free subscription by going to http://www.playpiano.com/

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Ten Ways to Improve Your Listening Skills

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”--Leo Buscaglia

Every time I give an assignment to my college students, I ask if they have questions. At first, everyone is hesitant, but in a moment or two, the questions begin. And that’s fine. What I find somewhat disconcerting, though, is that most of the questions reveal that the students haven’t really listened to my explanation, even though they appeared to have been attentive.

I realize many of us need to hear something more than once to understand and process it, and I’m not faulting my students for that. What bothers me is that in school and elsewhere, I’ve noticed most people don’t make much of an attempt to listen to others. In fact, I believe we are in the midst of a non-listening epidemic that is affecting the quality of our relationships, costing businesses thousands of dollars every year, and producing mediocre learning in our schools.

Most of what we learn, we learn by listening. Yet research shows that most of us aren’t good listeners. In their book, Excellence in Business Communication, Thill and Bovee write, “Listening is a far more complex process than most people think. .. . most of us listen at or below a 25 percent efficiency rate, remember only about half of what’s said during a 10-minute conversation, and forget half of that within 48 hours.”

It isn’t surprising that we don’t listen effectively. First of all, most of us haven’t been taught how to do so. We learn how to read and write but not how to listen. Secondly, we juggle so many activities on the job and at home that we don’t give much thought to listening. It’s speaking that takes priority. Yet mastering listening skills is critical if we are to become good communicators.

Cheesebro, O’Connor, and Rios write in Communication Skills, “People are fired, customers are lost, and working relationships are strained because of ineffective listening. Likewise, friendships suffer, marriages fail, and families grow apart when individuals fail to listen with genuine concern.”

The good news is you can improve your listening skills. By learning about the process and putting forth a conscious effort, you can become an effective listener.

The following ten guidelines, adapted from Thill and Bovee’s book, will help you become a better listener:

1. Minimize both internal and external distractions. You can’t always get rid of a headache, but you can close the windows if the driver of a truck is outside revving his engine.
   
   
2. Adjust your listening to the situation. If you’re listening to a lecture for an exam in Biology class, you’ll want to pay closer attention than if you’re watching the local news. In the former situation, you’ll probably take notes.
   
   
3. Show you’re listening by your nonverbal communication. You might nod, shake your head, or raise your eyebrows. Adjust your posture accordingly. Make eye contact.
   
   
4. If you’re listening to a speech or attending a business meeting, determine the most important points and develop a method to remember them. You might repeat them mentally or even jot them down briefly.
   
   
5. When you’re listening to a friend with a problem, demonstrate empathy. Show her you understand what she is going through.
   


6. Realize that people don’t necessarily want you to solve their problem. They may simply want to share how they are feeling. Save advice for another time, unless you’re asked for it.
   


7. Don’t interrupt. Let the person finish what he is saying before you explain your point of view or ask questions.
   


8. Don’t prejudge a person’s message by the way he looks. You can learn something from almost anyone.
   


9. Stay focused on the subject. It’s easy to let your mind wander, especially if the subject isn’t important to you. Train yourself to concentrate.
   


10. Remain clearheaded, even if the topic is emotional. Perhaps someone is discussing the victories of the recent election, and you were passionate about a losing candidate. When emotions become involved, you may end up in the middle of a shouting match, which will resolve nothing. Present your points calmly. You’ll gain credibility by doing so.

To truly listen to someone--not just to hear the words the other is saying but to pay attention to the message contained in the words--is the greatest compliment we can give another person. It means that the other is important enough to us so that we are willing to give him or her our most valuable commodity: our time.

It isn’t always easy to listen, especially when we are preoccupied with fifteen different things that needed doing an hour ago or when we simply aren’t interested in what the other person is saying. But making the effort pays off. Listening can provide a bond of intimacy that deepens our connection to others. It can enrich our personal relationships and help us make fewer mistakes in our jobs. It can increase our learning potential. And it might even earn you a special compliment: “I really like Jane. She’s such a good listener.”

Written on 11/17/2008 by Mary Ann Gauthier. Mary Ann is a writer and an adjunct instructor of English at a private college. She teaches listening skills to her business communication students and is also working on a book about the therapeutic benefits of journaling. Republished 6/2/2011.

Photo Credit: The Consumerist

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