contemplative listening
04/11/12 07:18
I would define contemplative listening as the unity of doing/not doing, listening/not listening. Being fully informed, the mind loaded with knowledge, technical information, or not, yet possessing the ability to listen as though one were a complete novice, with a beginner's mind. Such is not an easy place to be, to stay, and that's why people practice it every day for longer or shorter periods of time, in meditation. Riding that wave, that fine razor's edge between doing and not doing, or listening and not listening, is difficult. But the rewards are deep, pervasive, and exhilarating.
Whatever method of musical analysis, when held in that way, gets to insight. The SEA method seeks to understand the energy flow by considering all or many energy threads at once, as elaborated elsewhere, to create a phenomenological account of music as it unfolds in time. Discoveries made can lead to other types of analysis, or other types of analysis can lead to an understanding of the energy contour of a given parameter (musical element).
I think frequently of the old story of the emperor's new clothes as an analog to the state of contemporary music and musical analysis. Adopting a holistic, contemplative mode of listening would predictably lead to a more truthful account of what one hears, shining light to expose the illusion created by thought, concepts, or fashion.
Another of my favorite sayings regarding music, or anything, is:
The obvious is in control: expose it!
It should be pretty obvious when the emperor in fact has no clothes, right? But we all have found ourselves at some time or other having not acknowledged the obvious and winding up in a place of utter illusion. And often, the most obvious musical factors are controlling our perception of energy, creating affect in a passage, with more subtle factors not nearly so important as our thinking wants them to be. Of course, the extraordinarily subtle can be profound in its impact. Truth seems to be a matter of balance: hearing fully, processing honestly.
So, with a little compassion for ourselves, compassion for others, let's have the courage to face truth and listen to music as honestly as we can.
Whatever method of musical analysis, when held in that way, gets to insight. The SEA method seeks to understand the energy flow by considering all or many energy threads at once, as elaborated elsewhere, to create a phenomenological account of music as it unfolds in time. Discoveries made can lead to other types of analysis, or other types of analysis can lead to an understanding of the energy contour of a given parameter (musical element).
I think frequently of the old story of the emperor's new clothes as an analog to the state of contemporary music and musical analysis. Adopting a holistic, contemplative mode of listening would predictably lead to a more truthful account of what one hears, shining light to expose the illusion created by thought, concepts, or fashion.
Another of my favorite sayings regarding music, or anything, is:
The obvious is in control: expose it!
It should be pretty obvious when the emperor in fact has no clothes, right? But we all have found ourselves at some time or other having not acknowledged the obvious and winding up in a place of utter illusion. And often, the most obvious musical factors are controlling our perception of energy, creating affect in a passage, with more subtle factors not nearly so important as our thinking wants them to be. Of course, the extraordinarily subtle can be profound in its impact. Truth seems to be a matter of balance: hearing fully, processing honestly.
So, with a little compassion for ourselves, compassion for others, let's have the courage to face truth and listen to music as honestly as we can.