Chapter 1
Music Listening and You
Begins on page 2
Why Learn about Music?
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Music makes life fuller and more interesting
It’s like adding color to a picture
Why Learn about Music?
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Yes, you can live without music –
But your life will more complete with it!
Music Is Created for
Many Different Purposes
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To dance or march to
To provide a sonic background
To encourage a sense of unity in a group
To express religious feelings
For psychological satisfaction
Concert Music
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Created primarily for listening
Its sounds must be interesting and satisfying
or else they will be ignored or forgotten
Ordinary ≠ Extraordinary
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Ordinary: “Here today, gone tomorrow”
Extraordinary: “Here today, here
tomorrow”
“I know what I like”
“I like what I know”
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People almost always like the music they
are familiar with
It’s difficult to like something you hardly
know
Learning about music you do not know will
open up a much larger musical world
Listening to Music
You will listen to music much better if you
 Realize that hearing and listening are not
the same
 Listen to concert music very carefully and
contemplate its sounds
Listening to Music
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Each piece has features to be heard and
noticed
Listen especially for them
Listening to Music

Develop different modes of listening –
sensuous, expressive, and purely musical –
because
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Music offers the pleasure of its sounds
Music often reaches into our deepest feelings
Music fascinates us with how its sounds are
organized
Listening to Music

Develop different expectations about concert
music
►
It does not try to grab your attention
► It is not as loud as most popular music
► It usually is performed without lots of actions
► It is usually longer and more complex
Listening to Music

Remember what you hear, because
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You hear only a moment of sound
The rest is what you remember and your
guess about what will be sounded next
Listening to Music

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Become more sensitive to musical sounds
Try to notice your feelings and reactions to
music
Listening to Music

Use the CDs and Active Listening Guides to
help you
►
Yes, help is ready and waiting
► Take advantage of it!
Follow the Active Listening Guide for
“Hoe Down” from Rodeo
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Observe the overall plan of the music
Notice that the colors show the pattern of
the music
Follow the arrow to know exactly what’s
being sounded at that moment
Read the text material that appears at
appropriate moments
Listening with the Listening Guide
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The Listening Guide is on page 8
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The times on the left are cumulative
The times next to the text are from the track points
Copyright © 2010 by Schirmer Cengage Learning
Listening without Any Aids
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Listen to “Hoe Down” again outside of class
without any visual aids
That’s the way you usually listen to music
Listening and Information
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You had to use two legs to walk to class
today
You need two “legs” to understand music
better, especially art music
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Knowledge about music
Ability to perceive its sounds
Each contributes to the other
Conclusion
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Together they will make music and this
course more interesting and worthwhile
for you
Summary
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Why Learn about Music?
Music Is Created for Many Different Purposes
Concert Music
Ordinary ≠ Extraordinary
“I know what I like” “I like what I know”
Listening to Music
Follow the Active Listening Guide for “Hoe Down”
Listening with the Listening Guide
Listening without Any Aids
Listening and Information
Conclusion