You Aren't Listening to Music Properly

When was the last time you listened to music? Maybe you were studying for a subject, listening to the radio in the car, or just cramming a last minute assignment for that one class you hate. Either way, you were probably just playing the music as background noise while you continued on with a daily task. But does that really count as listening to music? 

Why Does Music Differ?

As music plays on in the background of our lives, whether that be in the form of ad jingles or transportation tunes, we so often forget the fact that music is a form of art. When you go to watch a movie at the cinema and you see someone mindlessly scrolling through their phone or talking to someone else, you’ll probably get angry or annoyed that they’re  not paying attention, right? So why is it any different for music? Why do we listen to music with the express intent of using it to focus on something else? 

Our Senses

A point that can be made is that music only appeals to one human sense:  Hearing. If something doesn’t appeal to a multitude of our senses, such as plain white rice compared to a steaming plate of freshly made pasta topped with basil, what’s the point of paying attention to it? Yet this “one sense” appeal can be said for other forms of art too. Take paintings for example. When you look at the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, your sight is the only sense used, with the mix and blend of colours and hues creating a spectacular feast for the eyes. This art piece and many other less famous ones are  appreciated and celebrated globally, in addition to being put into galleries for the whole world to enjoy. However, small songs and pieces have been shunned aside, forever lost to the hands of time. So how can you appreciate music as an art? How can you really start listening to music? 

Try it yourself! 

I implore you to pick what you believe to be your favourite song, and just listen to it. No distractions or anything like that, just you and the song. Even if you don’t know a single thing about music theory or composition, pay attention to things like the lyrics, the beat, the rhythm, or even the mood the song evokes. What is the song trying to convey? Once you’ve found what you believe to be the message of the song, delve deeper into the backstory. Who made the song? What inspired them to create it? Just like all other forms of art, music takes not only time and effort to make, but inspiration. Some may use music to talk about real-world problems they feel should be addressed, while others may use it to vent about their strongest emotions. 

Whatever their reasoning might be, each and every piece of music you see on Spotify, every ad tune you hear on the radio, and every sound you hear in your everyday life is a form of art. Even if it's just a few notes, a few beats of the drum, or a few droplets of rain, any sound can and will convey a multitude of emotions. So the next time you decide to listen to some tunes to help you with your work, stop, even for just a few seconds, and appreciate the effort that went into the song. After all, music is the most powerful form of communication humanity has ever made. 

We just need to listen.