Deep Listening in the Music Classroom
August 28th, 2007 by etobias
Listening is probably one of the most important concepts that our students can learn and engage in. When asking our students to listen, whether to music, sound or each other, do we ask them to listen deeply? This is exactly what composer and performer Pauline Oliveros asks of us. Oliveros has spent years developing her concept of Deep Listening and even has an organization that teaches people how to practice it. Recently her Worldwide Tuning Meditation was performed and listened to in an attempt to connect people across the world. It’s worth taking a look at the score which is available for free on her website.
Sound explorations and sonic meditations are very interesting techniques in helping our students listen in ways in which they might be unfamiliar. At the 2006 International Society for Improvised Music conference Pauline Oliveros led the entire group of attendees in a sonic meditation. I remember feeling amazing afterward and thinking that it would make an excellent transition for students after coming in from the hustle and bustle in the hallway to our music classrooms. Besides encouraging them to listen to each other it might help them gain a sense of their own voice and how it fits within the collective voice of their class.
Besides Oliveros, composers such as R. Murray Schafer encourage us to open our ears, listen and explore sound in new ways. Practicing some of the suggestions in Schafer’s books such as “The Thinking Ear” and “A Sound Education” can lead to a profound change in the way our students and we might approach listening, thinking about and engaging in music.
Consider trying out a sonic meditation and some of Schafer’s suggestions in your music classes this year.
