Deep Listening

by VJ Leith

Listening is how I became someone who loves music. I listened to my Dad playing the penny whistle, the bodhran (Irish drum), the guitar and heaps of records. Boredom on long car journeys in the 70s and 80s with no phone to gaze at (and couldn’t read books - motion sickness!) meant either listening to endless music on the car stereo or that my mind would fill with sound, movement and colour if no music was playing.

I try to bring this in as much as possible into music sessions. I see (in general) that children find it more of a challenge to listen, in that deep way that I did as a child - because there are less opportunities to do so.

Many parents have asked me over the years, ‘How do I get my child to be a good musician?’ My answer is always… get them to listen to lots of music, in a stress-free environment, and to also have time to experience boredom.

Sometimes, it can feel like we’re being lazy as teachers if we sit still with our children and listen to a whole piece of music, because we’re not getting busy, walking around the room and bustling about, asking focused key questions. But listening can unleash creativity, can help to produce the ‘Happy Hormones’ such as dopamine, enables us to feel connected to each other and the Universe, and can also improve cognition, motor and communication skills. It’s never a cop out to get our children to listen deeply to music and also, as we model this, our children see that it is OK to sit still and quietly for some times in the day.

I tell my children that I am a very fidgety person and this helps my creativity - when I listen to music, I am never fully sitting still - and I don’t expect them to do the same. I will often sway, and my fingers will generally move according to the pitch and melody. Closing eyes is, of course, optional! And whilst laying down is great, I try not to do that too much as depending on the music, it can be sleep-inducing!

Try listening to a whole piece of music - start with a shorter piece, if you are working on attention spans and gradually find longer pieces, whether it is live or recorded.

One of my favourite pieces at the moment is Joe Hisaishi’s Merry Go Round of Life, which I’ll link here. I get my children to listen first a few times, move a few times, then show them the video.