THE MAGIC OF MUSIC Part 2

 GETTING THE MOST OUT OF LISTENING TO MUSIC

     Learning to listen by listening -- This is how I learned to listen to music while in college in the charming and peaceful city of Pune, in the foothills of the Sahyadri mountain range in Maharashtra.

     Rock was our music at the time and I was determined to hear it in the same way that three or four of our Rock loving friends sat and listened to music in silence for hours together in the tranquil presence of Mary Jane.  

LISTENING TO ROCK – The Rock music we listened to then was creatively and musically at a very high level. We listened to whole 45-minute albums at a go, often repeating the whole album, never skipping a track or only hearing tracks we liked. We listened to complete albums. Completely immersed in the music.

     Dissimilar and unalike rock music -- It was the era of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, The Who and Led Zeppelin. Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Blind Faith and The Doors. Pink Floyd and Procol Harum; there was Crosby, Stills and Nash, Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and Jethro Tull. Blues musicians, B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. There were John Mayall and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield and Johnny Winter. There was Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. Chicago, and Blood Sweat and Tears. And the virtuosos that towered above them all, defying genre, Stevie Wonder and Frank Zappa. These were some, but not all the bands we listened to.  

     Remarkably, all the music produced at the time was musically dissimilar from the others; each band and individual artist was distinctive in sound and expression; their music pushed boundaries and defied conventions. These bands are still spoken about and listened to even today. Rock, blues and folk classics.

     Listen, layer by layer -- After a long listening session during which I had seen my friends Arun Pathak and Sudheer Gaikwad who had the gift of music in abundance, exchanging quick glances of appreciation at certain points in the music that we were listening to, I asked both Arun and Sudheer, what they hear that I don’t, Arun, who took my query seriously, thought about it and came back to me after a few days and suggested that to increase my listening ability, each time I listen to a rock album I should listen to only one of the instruments, so at the first listen, I could perhaps, carefully listen only to the bass guitar, then next, listen only to the drums; next, listen only to the lead guitar and then listen to them all together and check out how they relate to each other. 
     Seeing the whole picture. This method - not easy to do - worked. It helped me listen to music with greater awareness. I learned to give the music my full attention; I focused on the qualities of individual sounds and began to notice things which were not immediately obvious. 

     Seeing and Unseeing -- Listening to jazz and classical music however, is different from listening to rock music. In rock music one listens to bands comprising an average of three to five musicians, and the arrangements of the music and the compositions themselves follow certain basic patterns. There were exceptions of course, but generally, a Rock band had four or five instruments including the singer, whereas a symphony orchestra could have hundred instrumentalists and a jazz band would usually have fifteen members, and unusually, eighteen members. However, the method of listening to rock music I had learned, laid the foundations of listening to all music. 

LISTENING TO CLASSICAL MUSIC -- To listen to classical music, one could apply the same method as listening to rock or pop music, but our listening canvas would be on a grander scale, especially when listening to a symphony orchestra.

     When listening to an orchestra with so many sets of instruments, one can listen to each group of instruments separately as we learned to do in rock music, but it is not recommended, because classical composers create intricate, interconnected melodies, harmonies, and dynamics to convey powerful feelings and create astral atmospherics of beauty.

     Classical music, unlike pop music, may not pop out at us with a catchy tune, or captivating lyrics. Classical works deal with complex and subtle emotions and tend to be a deeper, more sustained experience to a listener.

     Transformation of themes and their return. To get the greatest amount of pleasure out of listening to a classical piece of music by an orchestra, or a chamber music group, we should try to identify the different groups of instruments and how they sound.

     We’ve got to listen to harmonies and tone colours of the whole orchestra.

     We’ve got to listen and recognise themes that are being played and how the themes are passed around to the many instrument groupings, and how they are being transformed and how they return to the original themes. 

     Explore and expand our zone of pleasure. As we continue listening to classical music, we will expand our musical horizons and explore various styles, genres, and performances.

     Classical music has stood the test of time due to its long-lasting allure and emotional resonance. In time, as we listen and understand what words like sonata, nocturne, etude, prelude are, and, that these musical forms and genres are typically instrumental, we will marvel at the remarkable skills of the composers and performers and, we will enjoy every nuance and complexity of the music. Once we’ve found the pleasure of classical works, it’s unlikely that we would ever lose that appreciation.

LISTENING TO JAZZ -- Jazz is a complex and highly technical art form that is largely Instrumental music.  Jazz experiments with various scales, and unusual chord progressions and harmonies. And, it is played by highly proficient, advanced musicians.      

      A major part of jazz is improvisation; the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines composed on the spot within the overall structure of the song.

      A precise characterization of jazz is impossible, but I’ll have a go at describing what sets Jazz apart:

     The sound of Jazz itself, is unusual. Jazz uses highly complex chords, and  deliberate dissonances. Jazz melodies have some curiously flattened notes within the composition called ‘blue’ notes. 

     Jazz has the feeling of the Blues. Blues is a genre of music which has a blues tonality, a melancholy, reflective sound due to a unusual blues scale which has dissonant notes which give it emotional impact. The Blues genre is foundational to jazz. Jazz is not jazz without the blues in it. 

     Improvisation is the spontaneous part within the structure of a song, and is the heart and soul of jazz. it’s the space in the written and arranged music for a soloist or sequence of soloists, whether vocal or instrumental to improvise within the melody and structure of the song. 

     And lastly, in this description, jazz swings -- Jazz has a propulsive rhythm that makes you sway and swing, rather than rock back and forth. Jazz swings – just like the Duke Ellington song title says, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”. 

     The structure of jazz bands – Big Bands usually have a rhythm section which include a piano, bass, guitar and drums, and a horn section, which is typically five Saxophones -- sax players often double on clarinet and flute. Four Trumpets, and Four Trombones. Small Jazz ensembles, often called Jazz combo’s, typically have drums, acoustic bass, piano, trumpet and sax. Moreover, there are piano trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, octets nonets which have different configurations of instruments. 

     Listening to jazz is very different from listening to Rock and Pop, and very different from listening to Western classical music. In Rock and Pop music, song lyrics put across an idea or story which an audience relate to. In jazz, the improvised solos communicate an emotion or a musical idea. Good solos tell a story.  Western classical music has no room for improvisation. 

     Plunge into the moment and listen actively. A listener of jazz listens to a piece of music and takes in the unique sound of jazz, and hears the individualistic interpretation of a song that jazz musicians impart to the melody, the harmony, and the rhythm of the song.

     Listen to the melody and the variations. We will hear how the musicians add some variation to the melody at the first repetition of it, we will then hear how the musicians keep adding variations to the theme and we will hear them invent melodies on the fly while they improvise and innovate. 

     Notice the emotional range conveyed through improvisation. The ebb and flow of dynamics. Notice the interplay between musicians while they converse. Each performance by jazz musicians is a conversation -- not only with them and the audience, but also amongst themselves.

     Flights of imagination - To listen to Jazz is to listen to the great technical prowess and flights of imagination by the musicians. To create and make good their inventive imagination, soloists have to have the technical ability to make  their instruments do what they have to. 

     Music is an antidote to entropy -- Listening lets the music find us, and clears our minds of stress and clutter and creates order. The framework of musical compositions, harmonises, balances and integrates to resist, challenge and counteract a natural tendency toward disorder.  

     Active listening and attentive listening enlivens us so that we savour more than the general outline of a performance. Every time we listen, we will hear something we hadn’t heard before, and that makes jazz such an enjoyable experience.  

Listening is something everyone can do. We have to open our minds to the idea of listening  and really want to listen to music with our heart and soul. Just like learning the words of a popular song we would listen over and over. Repetition creates familiarity and comfort, and allows us to listen again to parts of the music we may not have heard fully, or understood when we heard it before.

     Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? For those of us who have learned to listen to music, the practice outlined is valid. It works. Most musicians who have the inherent gift of music, usually hear everything in the music without the effort others like me had to commit to in the beginning; but the achievement it is worth the time. We enjoy listening to absorbing and compelling music like jazz and Indian and western classical music just as much as advanced musicians do. Indeed, we get all the juice out of the music. And the juice is definitely worth the squeeze!

https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2024/07/why-is-jazz-not-popular-like-pop-music.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2023/10/jazz-music-is-like-good-conversation.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2021/04/elements-of-music.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/an-orchestra-is-holarchy.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-orchestra-conductors-instrument.html\
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2016/08/why-we-love-blues-bb-king.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-comfort-and-joy-of-music.html

https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-magic-of-music-part-1.html

THE MAGIC OF MUSIC -- Part 1

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF LISTENING TO MUSIC

On 21^st June at a World Music Day celebration, my friends Sagari, Mondira, and Shakila spoke about how music has the ability to create harmony and fellowship amongst all of us. And how music fulfils and enlivens all of us and connects us all to each other. 

Their words are so true -- music is a lovely form of magic. It is the magic that can move us, soothe us and make us happy. Music is the magic that can take our minds off everything else and give soul to our day.

Sharing the ‘magic of music’ -- Personally, good music is my mood medicine and relief. Yet, I am just a listener of music. I don’t have the gift, or that special musical ability to make and perform music, nor do I have the determination and dedication to engage in an artistic pursuit as complex as music, which is what all true musicians have in addition to their inherent talent and their ‘gift’ of music. Dedicated musicians determinedly and continually explore the vast universe of music and systematically refine and advance their musical proficiency with regular practice.    

My gifts which could be considered useless in the mundane business of life, are, empathy, and a more than adequate aesthetic sensibility; enough to be deeply moved by art and design, music and dance, poetry, literature and also by nature and the natural world. In addition, I do have a good ear for music and am an attentive, active listener and relish compositional excellence and artistic merit in music and art.

Experiencing the joy and the magic of Music -- I listen to Jazz and Blues, Western Classical music, and Indian Classical music, both Carnatic and Hindustani with equal enjoyment. Regional traditional and folk music of India enthrals me, like Baul music of Bengal, and Manganyar music of Rajasthan, and the Monpa music of Arunachal Pradesh, and the traditional music of Nagaland as rendered by the Tetseo sisters and the music of various regions of India and Nepal brought so beautifully to life by Arko Mukherjee. Fabulous Sufi music from all over the world – from Punjab, Sindh and Iran. The music of Cote de Ivoire, Mali, Morocco, Algeria and other countries of the African continent and the unusual melodies, harmonies and intricate rhythms of Bulgarian choral music. Indeed, I like all choral music, and vocal harmony. However, Pop (popular) music seldom holds my interest, yet, every so often one comes across some very beautiful pop melodies and lyrics that make our hearts sing -- good songs are good songs and good music is good music regardless of the genre. 

Music helps us transcend the banality of the everyday -- There’s a lot of music waiting to be listened to if we open ourselves to listening to all music without setting boundaries to our ears.

We can open the connection of music with our inner and external selves and for a brief period of time transcend and ascend from the banality of the everyday to a higher plane and allow ourselves to hear music that fills our senses and takes us on journeys where the sound-track of time, space and the universe will open to us.

Getting all the juice out of the music we listen to -- When we are open to music, we can listen to all music without any effort and get the utmost pleasure from doing so.

So, if you hear yourself saying, even to yourself, ‘I don’t like this kind of music, or that kind of music’, this is essay is for you.

I would like to share the magic of music, so those of us who don’t have that special gift of music, can open our ears and listen to all music without prejudice and enjoy every bit of music, and delight in, and experience, all its magic.  

Those who have the gift of music, already have the ability to listen attentively, depending on the level of their talent, whether they are amateurs, advanced amateurs, professionals or advanced professionals, and even these levels have subdivisions amongst them, or, every musician would be a Stevie Wonder, or Bobby McFerrin, or Esperanza Spalding.    

LISTENING TO MUSIC -- “Music is a world within itself; it’s a language we all understand” ~ Stevie Wonder.

Listening to music could be learnt, so, to really get the most out of music; if you want music to infiltrate your body and mind, all you need is an open mind and the serenity to listen and let the music weave its spell.

All we need to do is feel and allow ourselves to feel -- Helene Grimaud, a gifted classical pianist in an interview which I have paraphrased a little, said, “People say, they don’t know anything about classical music (or jazz), so they don’t listen to it. But you don’t have to know anything about music to listen to it. Knowledge doesn’t increase anticipation or enjoyment of music; all we need to do is feel and allow ourselves to feel”.    

“Classical music (and jazz) are rich forms of music from which we can get so much pleasures and surprises, both are demanding and both don’t offer instant gratification. Both types of music require investment from the listener; we can’t sit passively and expect it to wash over us. The more intensively we listen; the more actively we listen, the more we get out of it. When you listen you experience something that engenders emotion. In yourself and others. So, when you listen to music and relate to it, you can listen to it hundreds of times”.

Music requires investment from the listener. Here are a few prerequisites to cultivating the ability of listening to music.

You should want to listen to music with all your heart and soul -- If you choose to do this, you will grasp and sense the music you are listening to, and appreciate how gifted performers put their heart and soul into the music which they create and share with the world.

Free yourself from the limitations of your mind -- Another prerequisite – free yourself from the limitations of your mind and surrender to the spirit of sound. Once you elect to open your mind to the idea of listening, your mind will be liberated and you will hear music that will warm your heart and lift your soul.

Active listening -- What we discovered over years of listening to all kinds of music, and wish to share, is that to really listen to music, one has to ‘listen’ actively, rather than just ‘hearing’, which is passive listening. Good listening is active. We’ve got to pay attention to the music with the intention of truly appreciating the art, while passive listening is only just about hearing it. Active listening takes intense focus. It takes much more effort than passive listening, but is much more rewarding.

By listening attentively, the music will not sound like something we’re not used to, it will sound like what it is instead of what it’s not.

Previous posts about music: 
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2024/07/why-is-jazz-not-popular-like-pop-music.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2023/10/jazz-music-is-like-good-conversation.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2021/04/elements-of-music.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/an-orchestra-is-holarchy.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-orchestra-conductors-instrument.html\
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2016/08/why-we-love-blues-bb-king.html
https://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-comfort-and-joy-of-music.html