The Benefits of Listening Theory Beyond Music

Listening: virtually everyone has experience with it. It’s a seemingly intuitive skill–after all, hearing is one of our five senses, the most basic ways we gather information about the world around us. From the time we are infants we intuitively react to language, music, and auditory cues in our environment. Even though listening is intuitive, it is a skill that can be developed. Learning to listen in new and deeper ways offers a host of benefits. What specifically are those benefits?

Over the next nine weeks I’ll be releasing a series of short articles about listening theory and what it offers to musicians and non-musicians alike. I’ll explore a few contemporary topics: streaming, social media, the necessity of the internet, and the rise of AI. None of these technologies are strictly musical (streaming is perhaps the closest), but all of them do have common ground: they are designed to engage human attention, and are often structured to keep your focus as long as possible.

Research has shown that as these technologies become more prevalent, we are losing our ability to focus properly, indicated by shrinking attention spans. Social media has connected the world like no platform or invention could before it, but has simultaneously created spaces that often thrive off anger and frustration. Streaming has completely redefined music consumption, creating foundational challenges for the music industry. And AI holds vast potential for good or ill.

These technologies are not going away, so our job is to learn what we can do to best harness them. This is where listening is essential. While the musical findings of listening theory are enormous, they might not outweigh the interdisciplinary potential, which sets a standard for how we engage with media in any form–a skill that is more important than ever. If we can take control of how we focus our thoughts and feelings (how we listen), then we will know better how to act. That’s where listening offers unique benefits. That’s also why it’s important to study music through the lens of listening–pure listening separates us from the need to act, but strongly connects us with our feelings and thoughts. As we gain mastery of our listening skills, we gain more autonomy in our musical experiences as well as in our interactions with media of all forms. 

Stay tuned for next week’s article, where we'll dive into how listening theory applies specifically to music. To stay up to date on the latest in listening theory, sign up for our newsletter or join our free community.