10 Levels of Advanced Listening

The best way to improve as a musician is to improve your listening. So, think of it like adjusting the focus ring on a camera.

As the image gets more in focus, you see more things with more detail. The same

applies to listening. So, in this video, I'm going to show you ways to push your ears to listen with more clarity. And

we're going to do this in 10 levels that gradually go deeper and deeper. The last

one is one that I'm just discovering.

It's also inspiring the making of this video, and it's changing my whole perception of why we even listen to music in the first place. And for this

one, I have a special guest, Dr. Elizabeth Margulis, author and professor in music cognition, who's on faculty at Princeton University. I find that

Princeton University. I find that questions really help focus our attention, so I've organized each layer as a question to ask ourselves while listening to music. So, I would use

these questions as a template, a starting point to help guide you through listening to a track of music or a piece that you're learning.

We're going to start with a basic, yet necessary, question. And that's to ask

necessary, question. And that's to ask what naturally grabs your attention. It

can be anything from color, texture, the energy emotion sound anything.

So, here we have Vivaldi, and without putting too much thought into it, my attention immediately goes to the tempo.

It's fast, and there's a feeling of urgency.

Here we have music by Steve Reich, and I can't help but think of air and wind.

[music] And hearing music by Mussorgsky, I'm noticing how low the pitches are.

So So we're sticking with things that are apparent and obvious to us. This

involves using our intuition.

The next question is to ask, "How would you describe the flow?" So, we're listening to the tempo, the pace, how fast or slow is it? And it also includes

different points of emphasis. Sticking

with the same excerpt, we have an interruption.

[music] Things came to a halting stop.

And here, we [music] change into a steady rhythm at a very slow pace.

That's why I would describe the flow here as dragging.

Rhythm is often also created with multiple layers. Here's music by Julia

multiple layers. Here's music by Julia Wolfe that has a perpetual flow.

But when you start to listen to the different parts, the flow is constantly broken up.

The same goes for this section of Beethoven's Appassionata.

The repeating notes create a singular [music] steady flow, but the chords on top add more [music] jaggedness to the flow.

The next question is to ask, "What kind of space does this create?" So, we're now hearing more detail, such as the sound quality and certain textures, but we're still keeping things broad and

focusing on the vibe, the overall feeling, and the atmosphere.

So, going back to the Julia Wolfe, now I'm listening to layers like the strings, clarinet, and also the singing.

And when all of these combine together with the rhythm and [music] the stomping underneath, I think of folk music, an intimate space that is kind of crowded, almost like a communal space where

[music] there's dancing present.

Going back to the Beethoven, I imagine a dark tunnel-like space because I hear minor chords [music] and all of the sound is contained in a

rather narrow amount of space.

[music] In contrast, this music makes me think of a light, airy [music] space because even though there's consistent motion, the sound is very bright, [music]

gentle, and the harmony uses major scales.

[music] The next question is one that I really like. It's to ask, "How would this

like. It's to ask, "How would this translate into movement?" So, now we're listening to shape and the flow in relation to the sound.

When it comes to closely listening to gestures, like all of the pivots here, [music] it helps to both listen to the attack of

a sound and how it trails off. Here we

have longer notes that create a sense of gliding.

[music] And then a lot of lifting motion created by these short and dry pizzicato.

[music] Shape has a lot to do with range and we can apply this to [music] pitches.

So, here most of the notes happen very high in pitch, but we have these occasional grounding bass notes.

[music] And because of this shape, I perceive this as having a very [music] static and gentle sense of movement. So, I imagine

floating and dangling such as wind [music] chimes.

The next question is to ask, "How is this breathing?" So, now we're adding a

this breathing?" So, now we're adding a layer of comparison because in order to answer this question, you have to pay attention to contrast. This can be applied to many things. For example,

[music] dynamics. Here in Tchaikovsky's

dynamics. Here in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, the tempo remains relatively consistent. But, listen as the music

consistent. But, listen as the music becomes softer. [music]

becomes softer. [music] It feels like [music] the tempo is shifting way more than it actually is.

And as you listen to this movement as a whole, you can get a sense [music] of this longer-term breathing.

[music] A cyclical pattern can also be, of course, applied to rhythm.

This is music by Jacob Man, and the shorter beats are in contrast to the longer beats. They're almost like these

longer beats. They're almost like these stretched-out moments.

[music] Which creates this irregular cyclical groove that is very playful and bold.

The next question to ask is, "Where does this music want to go?" So, now we're paying attention to how we follow what is being built in terms of expectation,

different tension and release points, and paying attention to drama. So, with

this one, it helps to have music theory knowledge, but it is not necessary. So,

now going back to the Tchaikovsky, we're going to shift our attention to the [music] melody, which leads with a clear direction.

The harmony underneath [music] reinforces this by pulling us towards or away from the home key, which here is G [music] major. So, as the chords move

[music] major. So, as the chords move farther out, the tension increases, [music] which makes us feel the relief of the

resolution back [music] to G major.

Now, coming back to the Vivaldi, our main key is established.

Then we go into a sequence, so a certain expectation is formed, which is why that shift [music] felt unexpected.

And now we're in another key center, a fourth above.

And it feels stable here until [music] our one chord becomes a five chord, so we now want to go somewhere again.

I will mention that if you do want to dive more into music theory, check out other videos on my channel. There's

plenty there, as well as teaching materials on my website.

To listen to a very different example, here's one of my favorite duos. [music]

The melodic line is wonderfully unpredictable, [music] yet there's still a sense of direction because of the harmony underneath. This

becomes very clear when you listen to the bass notes.

[music] The next question is to ask, "Who is speaking?" In order to answer this

speaking?" In order to answer this question, you have to start spreading the music apart into layers. This will

help you notice how the different parts are interacting with one another, and it also helps to think of roles. So, who is leading, who is reacting, who is supporting?

Now, coming back to the Ravel, we have to listen quite closely to follow how the melody [music] is passed around very smoothly from the cello, then shifting [music] to a sort of

response from the viola, [music] as the others are supporting with these chromatic lines, [music] then the first violin gradually takes

over.

[music] The differences can seem subtle, but each instrument brings a very different [music] expression and color to the music.

Dialogue also happens when there's only one [music] instrument.

Here on the surface, it may seem like we're just going up and down with arpeggios, [music] but if you listen further, you can separate the phrases and hear the

responses between the two parts.

[music] [music] The next question is getting a little more abstract. It's to ask how's the

more abstract. It's to ask how's the energy behaving? I like to think in

energy behaving? I like to think in terms of molecules and elements. For

example, are things gathering versus spreading out? Are things collapsing,

spreading out? Are things collapsing, exploding? These are all great ways to

exploding? These are all great ways to pay attention to the subtlety and how it relates to the whole. In Steve Reich's duet, everything is on a larger plane,

sort of like these long interlocking currents.

[music] And the feeling is very expansive because there are these pulses. It's

almost like having these huge wings that are beating ever so slightly and shifting directions while gliding in the air.

Coming back to the Beethoven, technically we just have scales and repeating chords.

But the five-one cadences combined with the tunnel-like flow, the thorny articulation, the aggression [music] underneath, this sounds like energy

that's desperately wanting to escape.

The pizzicato here makes me think of [music] a lot of sparks flying.

And the energy is really contained tightly together, yet [music] there is space in between.

[music] The next question, we're getting deeper and deeper. What is the narrative arc?

and deeper. What is the narrative arc?

In order to answer this question, you have to consider the entire flow, the entire unfolding of time and events in the music, and add in your own

imagination.

Some music comes with a built-in storyline or reference, [music] like Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

You can use that as a starting point to create your own story, but the important thing is that you're now paying attention to the form [music]

and following the music across a much longer span of events.

[music] When I consider the longer arching structure of the Beethoven, made up of the different movements and shorter sections, I think of a man who's

disturbed by this strange force that's slowly awakening inside him, [music] and he tries to understand it, he tries to keep it under control, occasionally

[music] finding some peace, but eventually he has to face this devastating force.

And all of this in a claustrophobic way is contained in his own head.

This story makes sense to me as I listen to and absorb the larger [music] context while paying attention to all of the musical details. And now, the last

musical details. And now, the last question, which I'm considering as the deepest layer here, is to ask where does this music take

you? Now, for this, we have to step

you? Now, for this, we have to step aside a bit and tap into a different form of listening. This is where Elizabeth Margulis' research really comes into play. Her book, fitting to

the title, is a case for musical daydreaming and how it can be a profound experience and a way to basically understand ourselves and the human

experience on a deeper level.

It's the auditory equivalent of softening your gaze a bit, right? Just

let that let that be a little bit and notice kind of what emerges.

So, as we're daydreaming, we're able to connect with and process things that are deeply rooted within us. And that is because daydreaming involves imagining

and that uses the same part of your brain that deals with memory, the scene construction network.

Anytime you're remembering something, there's quite a bit of like reconstruction. And similarly,

reconstruction. And similarly, imaginings you have, even ones that seem very fanciful, are dependent on little bits of memory that you're extracting and then, you know, reassembling.

So, because of this, we're able to process things like the past versus the future, the internal self versus the external world. Now, music is a strong trigger

world. Now, music is a strong trigger for you to enter this state.

Music is just this really kind of trippy way in to [laughter] like, you know, what are these associations that I've formed across the course of my

lifespan? You know, what comes up

lifespan? You know, what comes up is often revealing of the experiences you've had in your life. If you think about who you are, right? The the frame

within which your imagination is living is a very fundamental part of of who you are.

She refers to what's called the hybrid state of listening to music. You're able

to experience an external stimulus while engaging in your internal world.

If you just turn slightly to look at these associations and what comes to mind when listening, you find that it really amounts to some kind of very sophisticated technical knowledge that

you can also put in other terms. People know way more than we give them credit for. A person without training may not

for. A person without training may not be able to say that's list, but they may be able to say that music sounds [music] like a cartoon cat chasing a cartoon mouse.

And really, one of the things they're saying is that sounds like list, right?

But it's like in the correct vocabulary [music] to access this actually incredibly robust taxonomy that people have absorbed across a lifetime of listening.

What I'm realizing more and more as someone who listens to a lot of music, but also creates music is to consider the many different angles, but not

obsess on any specific dimension.

Everything is necessary, including the blur. Going back to the camera analogy,

blur. Going back to the camera analogy, sometimes you don't want all of the details. The blur adds to the beauty of

details. The blur adds to the beauty of the image and the experience, and the same applies to music. Thank you so much to my patrons on Patreon. Everyone for

watching and subscribing, and I hope to see you soon in the next video.