Sound reasoning: a new way to listen  (Page 2/2)

Each concept is illustrated with examples both from the classical and modern repertoires of the Western tradition.These repertoires are often segregated from one another. Presenting them side-by-side will help illustrate the continuity of musical thought. It will demonstrate howmusic of any time and any place may explore music's basic resources of resonance, motion and design. It will also help toprepare and encourage listeners to be active and curious explorers, prepared to greet both the known and the unfamiliarwith engagement and insight.

One of the defining features of a musical performance is that, once it begins, it is unstoppable: Unlike a book, it is not possible for the listener to pause, reviewpassages, or change the pace of unfolding. For these reasons, listening to music requires a very special kind of focus.

Conventional musical attempts to develop this focus by beginning with the smallest elements of music--chords, scales,melodies and phrases--and eventually building into questions of the larger musical form. The risk of this approach is that it conditionslisteners to focus primarily on the moment-to-moment progress of the music: if the sounds are surprising or unconventional, listeners may easily get easily get thrown into confusion and lose track of what is happening. Sound Reasoning takes a "top down" approach to listening: It will show you how to stretch your awareness so that it takesin the full expanse of a composition. Details will then be contemplated with respect to how they contribute to thedeveloping form. The advantage of this approach is that you will no longer be thrown off or disengaged by puzzling orunexpected sounds. No matter how unusual or unusual themusic, you will be able to maintain your concentration and actually experience the entire work.

Intuition and analysis are often regarded as opposing and incompatible. Analysis is felt to fight spontaneity and depleteone’s enjoyment. This is an unfortunate and misleading dichotomy. Intuition is speeded up thought: It is reasoning that occurs too rapidly for us to be able to articulate it toourselves consciously. The purpose of analysis is to train our intuition, so that our visceral responses arise from the mostcomprehensive possible perceptions and understanding. At first, you may have to study musical concepts very deliberately; over time,however, these concepts will become part of your intuitive framework. Done properly, analysis strengthens our intuition anddeepens our enjoyment.

Part of the purpose of the Connexions project is to invite scholars to provide additional examples, both from within theclassical and modern repertoires, but also from jazz, folk music, music of other traditions, and popular music. Ideally, alarge sampling of repertoires and styles will help demonstrate the reach and relevance of the concepts we will discuss.

Each module presents a particular topic, illustrated with musical examples. A "listening gallery" follows, in whichthe student is asked put the concepts into practice by interactively analyzing musical examples. Please feelencouraged to listen to the examples as many times as you need.

Listeners sometimes shy away from highly unfamiliar music. Sound Reasoning will show how much can be gained even at a first hearing. If we are attracted to the music,we will return to it for further, ever-deepening listenings. When we meet someone new at a party, a whole life is concealed from us. An initial conversation mayinform us about the person's history, outlook, and character but there are many discoveries to be made. Many years later, we maylook back at that first encounter and realize how little we yet knew, how many revelations would occur later. So it is withlistening to music. It is impossible to develop a relationship with a piece of music without a first hearing; it is impossibleto come to love something if we are not first prepared for it to be new. Sound Reasoning is designed to help you cultivate a lifelong intelligent andpassionate connection to music.