A TOOLBOX FOR MUSIC LISTENING

with Russell Steinberg, Ph.D.

6 Sessions On Zoom
Tuesdays 4:00-6:00PM Pacific Time
May 7- June 11, 2024

Cost: $425 for the Full Series/$75 per Individual Session*

I often ask concert audiences: why is it that we can easily follow a 2 hour movie for the first time with total comprehension, yet often feel lost, confused, or bored listening to an unfamiliar 10 minute piece of music? Answering that question sparked the genesis of this series.

The music we hear today assumes familiarity with hundreds of different genres and global styles, not to mention different historic periods reaching back a thousand years. We need larger ears! Or perhaps a new toolbox that can help us make sense of any piece of music, regardless of genre, even if we’re unfamiliar with its language.

In six sessions, we’ll create and learn to use this toolbox.
This will be our journey:
Session 1— We’ll discuss our musical prejudices and how to get past “like” and “don’t like” as a response to listening. We’ll talk about the process of listening itself, moments we love and moments where we snooze. We’ll talk about music we understand instantly and music that takes repeated listening. We’ll tackle the fundamental question, is music a universal language?

Session 2— I’ll take you into the “secrets” of sound and music itself. We’ll explore basic acoustics common to all music—range, dynamics, articulation, and timbre. We’ll hear how those acoustic phenomena can be shaped into musical rhythms, textures, melody, and harmony. Then hear how those musical elements unfold time using a grammar of repetition, contrast, and return.

Session 3—Now that we have new maps for listening, we need to practice! We’ll hear several different pieces of music, all to open up a new way of hearing music.

Session 4—The secret of this series: a well-wrought piece of music contains the seeds of its development in its first 5 seconds. Clues in that beginning can stimulate expectations towards an entirely new level of music listening. Beethoven presents a fabulous window into this new focus and we’ll listen to several of his pieces in this way.

Session 5— Time flow and musical narrative. We perceive music not in real time, but as a psychological sequence of events. Connecting those events creates a story that opens the door to hearing a complete piece of music beyond its parts.

Session 6—Performance vs. The Music Itself. A performer’s interpretation can elevate or obscure a piece of music. The performer occupies our first level of attention. How do we navigate our attention between the performer and the music they interpret?

These six sessions are intended to develop a new skill that I hope will enrich your musical passion across the board. Think how empowering it will be to have a perspective that helps you approach any piece of music with a degree of confidence, regardless of its genre or style.