On Active Listening

When was the last time you listened — actually listened — to music? With intention, like you were watching a movie or reading a novel?

Unless we're at a concert, on a dance floor or playing an instrument, we tend to put on music and listen passively while doing something else. Whether it is commuting, socializing, working out, running errands, surfing the web, or working, we're removed from the music, primarily because listening is secondary to the main activity. But it doesn't have to always be this way.

There was a time when listeners treated the mere existence of recorded sound as a miracle. A wonder, a kind of time travel. The late experimental composer and teacher Pauline Oliveros coined the phrase 'deep listening' for just this practice. Defining it as radical attentiveness, she wrote, "I differentiate to hear and to listen. To hear is the physical means that enables perception. To listen is to give attention to what is perceived both acoustically and psychologically."

Active listening invites you in. It implores you to get involved, to think, to feel physically and cerebrally. Music is too expressive and dynamic to remain in the background all the time. We can't always be listening actively, but every now and then, putting aside time to delve into sounds purely and carefully can be rewarding. That's because engaging intensely leads to both an intimacy with, and a deeper understanding of the music. Our reactions become more personal, and this gives rise to appreciation.

If this resonates with you, I encourage you to bask in the experience at your chosen depth, giving it as much attention as you wish to contribute. You could set your own pace and play your music selection, or dive into Pauline Oliveros' 1989 Deep Listening album (Spotify - Apple Music - Youtube).

Since 2016, I've been hosting listening sessions at my place to promote this practice. The idea is to bring together people with an affinity for music, and to listen without diverting attention to anything else. To be immersed in the sound one hundred percent of the time. The price of admission? One song related to a theme that will bind us for the night. For a couple of hours, we sit together, listen, and share thoughts, feelings and stories.

If you're in Berlin and want to join the next one, give me a shout! And if you're not around but feel intrigued, consider starting your own listening sessions with friends. Feel free to reach out and I'll be very happy to tell you more about it.

To hear more, say less.

With love and mindfulness,

Choucri