#ACTIVE LISTENING EXERCISES FOR SINGERS HOW TO#

An English course might examine how particular texts have been set to music, or how canonical theatrical works have been adapted for the operatic stage. For example, an American History course on the 1960s could feature iconic protest songs of the anti-war movement or a comparison of Aretha Franklin’s Respect from 1967 with Otis Redding’s original 1965 recording in order to highlight prevalent issues of class and gender in the United States at that time. Musical examples can be usefully deployed in a wide variety of disciplines. By expanding the notion of a “text” to include any object that can communicate meaning-as in the literary theory sense of the word-then music can also be treated as an important object of study from a variety of vantage points. But music is not just for musicians and music courses. While the importance of teaching with a variety of artifacts or objects is generally recognized, music may not always be the first port of call outside of music classes. To practice active listening, we must-like Dr.

#ACTIVE LISTENING EXERCISES FOR SINGERS HOW TO#

Nevertheless, music has the power to enrich student engagement in the college classroom if they learn the art of active listening and how to connect what they hear with a broader conceptual network.

Music surrounds us everyday-it is on our playlists, the radio, commercials, soundtracks for movies or television shows, our neighbors’ stereo-yet we seem to have mastered the art of hearing without listening. In these parallel statements, the implication is that “seeing” and “hearing” are passive, while “observing” and “listening” are active, requiring a heightened level of engagement from the observer or listener but also resulting in a greater acquisition of knowledge. Watson can be rephrased to reference the ear rather than the eye as the sensory organ of observation: You hear, but you do not listen. By Christy Thomas You see, but you do not observe.

Active listening exercises for singers