Spintricity - Active or Passive Listening?

What is active versus passive listening? We all experience music in different ways, at different times, and in different environments. Sometimes the focus of our activity is on the music with few outside distractions. You may be in a darkened room listening to music, doing nothing but sitting there attentively listening. You block outside distractions by letting the phone go to the answering machine and you ensure others are out of your way.
This is active listening.

At other times, you are actively engaged in other activities and the music is in the background. You might be typing a paper or playing on the Internet with music streaming in the background. This is passive listening. Both of these are real examples, but don\'t really address the heart of active versus passive listening. It would be easy to postulate that if the focus of our activity is listening to music then we must be active participants. We could also surmise that if we are engaged in other activities and we have music in the background then we must be experiencing music in a passive fashion.

Flawed Logic?

To my way of thinking, these views are flawed and really don\'t address the heart of the matter. Both active and passive listening are attitudes that you pursue to achieve a final goal or state. If you pursue a passive listening experience my guess is that you will get a passive or benign experience. Bear with me on this one and hear me out before you write me off as a looney tune!

Lets take the first example. You can do many things to address your environment such as darkening the room, participate in no other activities, and make sure outside distractions such as a phone, kids, or the significant other can\'t interfere with your goal of listening to music. But................... what about where your mind is at. If you have a hard issue at work and your mind is focused on this issue, you may never really hear the music. The difference is that you may hear the notes and words but not experience the music and the mood it elicits in your inner being. You can set up your environment to seem like you have the opportunity to actively listen but in fact be far away and not even passively listening if the truth were told.

Lets look at the second example. You may be surfing the web and apparently not really listening very carefully but actually hear the words, melodies, and interplay of the music. You may be inwardly connecting with the music and message but to the outside world your just playing around, surfing the net, and listening to music as background filler. Do you get the point? Active and passive listening are mindsets and attitudes in addition to external environments that affect you. Your attitude has a greater impact on how you connect with the music and experience the message of the music than the external environment. You have to look at the whole package versus just trying to manipulate your environment and surroundings.

Ohmmmmmm...............

How do you clear your mind, focus your attention, and get in a state where the music can sink into you and affect a transformational experience in your life? This isn\'t necessarily easy to accomplish but it can make the difference between actively connecting with the music and just passively listening to the music. There are many methods that are used to clear the mind and focus our energy toward a specific goal. You can use anything from physical exercise, to meditation, to yoga, to prayer. We all have different ways of tuning out the outside world and focusing inward to elicit peace, focus, and a sense of rejuvenation.

My point is that you have a choice to make. Sometimes passive listening is fine and serves a purpose. I much prefer active listening and the potential to experience peace, joy, happiness, rejuvenation, and sometimes something transformational that makes me a better person.

How do you get ready to experience music? What can you do to help take you to a place of musical inspiration? Maybe a darkened room, maybe a glass of wine (or milk for some of you), or have spent time with the family and cleared your mind of the days worries/troubles. Find a way to relax physically, mentally, and spiritually as a way to prepare yourself to experience music. Take an active role and pursue listening in an proactive manner.

I hope these thoughts inspire you to try some new things. Maybe the old approach isn\'t really working and a new way is what you need. Go ahead, give it a try. The worst that could happen is nothing really changes. The best that could happen is that it opens your eyes and allows you to step deeper into the music and yourself.

Good listening!
Brian

What is active versus passive listening?

We all experience music in different ways,

at different times, and in different

environments. Sometimes the focus of

our activity is on the music with few

outside distractions. You may be in a

darkened room listening to music, doing

nothing but sitting there attentively

listening. You block outside distractions by

letting the phone go to the answering

machine and you ensure others are out of

your way.

This is active listening.

At other times, you are actively engaged

in other activities and the music is in the

background. You might be typing a paper

or playing on the Internet with music

streaming in the background. This is

passive listening. Both of these are real

examples, but don't really address the

heart of active versus passive listening. It

would be easy to postulate that if the

focus of our activity is listening to music

then we must be active participants. We

could also surmise that if we are engaged

in other activities and we have music in

the background then we must be

experiencing music in a passive fashion.

Flawed Logic?

To my way of thinking, these views are

flawed and really don't address the heart

of the matter. Both active and passive

listening are attitudes that you pursue to

achieve a final goal or state. If you

pursue a passive listening experience my

guess is that you will get a passive or

benign experience. Bear with me on this

one and hear me out before you write me

off as a looney tune!

Lets take the first example. You can do

many things to address your environment

such as darkening the room, participate in

Active or Passive Listening?

by Brian Boehler

mymischievmis's 1st post of 5 on 27 Dec 14:53

Edit

Musical Wallpaper is fine. But the obsessive-compulsive who listens all day at work to his or her iPod is not listening to music. He or she is seeking a subliminal distraction. I only listen actively, which means in short spurts of no more than three album. Usually I dedicated a listening experience to one album, then, if it inspire, another one. For me it is easy to get to the place where there is only the happening of the musical event, no me, no not-me. It takes only the first one or two son... more...

mike's 1st post of 25 on 29 Dec 04:27

Edit

Thanks for posting. Sorry for the bug where you couldn't see your post for a few days. A little bumpy road getting started here, apparently. Personally, re your point, I listen to music in all ways, in all possible 'problematic' modes, or none, depending on the moment to moment flow of the 'experience'. Just like real life - but more intense ;-)

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