Listening
Listening.
For those who are reading this that enjoy listening to music, this is directed towards you.
First of all, let me be very clear that I am the first person who will admit that music can't always be one thing, there is music for everyone, and there are songs that some people will like and some won't.
With that being said, I legitimately get upset with how easily people give up on listening to new music; there are times where I don't like a song until the fifth or sixth time I hear it.
We use our ears everyday. Wouldn't you agree? I'd beg to differ that 90% of people do not really listen to what is going on around them, whether they're on the street, or listening to music.
Before I continue to rant and sound like a cranky old man let me introduce myself:
My name is Peter Nienhuis, I am 24 years old, and I am an audio engineer, musician, and composer.
I have been playing the tenor saxophone and writing music for just over 15 years, and music is my life. I listen to music for hours every day, and I have really been into doing audio for film as of the last couple years. I am passionate and particular about music, and I take it seriously. I have come to an understanding that I hear music differently than most of my friends, as I have gone to school to train my ears a certain way.
At the risk of sounding like arrogant, my ear training most certainly makes me a better listener than most, when it comes to music. I know my ears work well, but I also know that having training in no way makes my experience of listening to music better/worse than anyone else. In truth, it makes me seem like a huge jerk/nerd when I comment on or ask about parts of the song that others didn't pick up on, then I proceed by rewinding and turning the volume up and replaying parts of the song over and over, and eventually annoying my friends, ruining their listening experience.
This brings me to my main point:
No matter what I have done in the past to hone my listening skills, and no matter the amount of training someone has as a musician, there is a melody within all of us, and music speaks to us all differently. We may all experience things a little differently. A song that makes me happy can make someone else sad. Now, I may have been talking about music and audio this whole time, but listening goes beyond enjoying. Listening not to respond, but to understand. My greatest lesson of all when it comes to listening, is that we must absorb everything we can, and we must exercise our ears and mind like they are muscles.
A lack of focus on what our ears are picking up is an opportunity missed, and you never know what is worth hearing. Keep your ears open, and your eyes peeled, for the next edition of this semester's blog series, entitled, "Listening."
-Peter Nienhuis
For those who are reading this that enjoy listening to music, this is directed towards you.
First of all, let me be very clear that I am the first person who will admit that music can't always be one thing, there is music for everyone, and there are songs that some people will like and some won't.
With that being said, I legitimately get upset with how easily people give up on listening to new music; there are times where I don't like a song until the fifth or sixth time I hear it.
We use our ears everyday. Wouldn't you agree? I'd beg to differ that 90% of people do not really listen to what is going on around them, whether they're on the street, or listening to music.
Before I continue to rant and sound like a cranky old man let me introduce myself:
My name is Peter Nienhuis, I am 24 years old, and I am an audio engineer, musician, and composer.
I have been playing the tenor saxophone and writing music for just over 15 years, and music is my life. I listen to music for hours every day, and I have really been into doing audio for film as of the last couple years. I am passionate and particular about music, and I take it seriously. I have come to an understanding that I hear music differently than most of my friends, as I have gone to school to train my ears a certain way.
At the risk of sounding like arrogant, my ear training most certainly makes me a better listener than most, when it comes to music. I know my ears work well, but I also know that having training in no way makes my experience of listening to music better/worse than anyone else. In truth, it makes me seem like a huge jerk/nerd when I comment on or ask about parts of the song that others didn't pick up on, then I proceed by rewinding and turning the volume up and replaying parts of the song over and over, and eventually annoying my friends, ruining their listening experience.
This brings me to my main point:
No matter what I have done in the past to hone my listening skills, and no matter the amount of training someone has as a musician, there is a melody within all of us, and music speaks to us all differently. We may all experience things a little differently. A song that makes me happy can make someone else sad. Now, I may have been talking about music and audio this whole time, but listening goes beyond enjoying. Listening not to respond, but to understand. My greatest lesson of all when it comes to listening, is that we must absorb everything we can, and we must exercise our ears and mind like they are muscles.
A lack of focus on what our ears are picking up is an opportunity missed, and you never know what is worth hearing. Keep your ears open, and your eyes peeled, for the next edition of this semester's blog series, entitled, "Listening."
-Peter Nienhuis
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