Cited: Copland, Aaron. The Norton Reader. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Cited: Copland, Aaron. The Norton Reader. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Copland makes remarks such as “simplest”, “absentmindedly”, “without thinking”, and even “brainless” to describe how most people listen to music. (Copland, 1-2) He accuses them of using and abusing music to escape to a place “where one doesn’t have to think about the realities of everyday life” so of course they “aren’t thinking about the music either”. (Copland, 2) Though I agree that music can be used as an escape and people do hear without really listening, the chosen language shows a disregard, almost contempt, for the average person and causes one to wonder if being a professional musician might constitute a more polite dialogue. Moving into the next, deeper, level of listening the author tends to draw lines between what he views as “qualified music listeners” and “simple minded souls” deemed incapable of listening to music without trying to attach meaning to it. (Copland, 3) He even goes so far as to demand that those who do find an expressivity they can familiarize with be immediately discouraged “wherever and whenever they are met.” (Copland, 3) The plane Copland discusses here is all about the meaning of music and how very subjective it is, yet he ostracizes the habit of looking for said meaning. On the other hand, his tone changes to one of praise when mentioning “professional musicians” who “do not feel the need of finding it.” (Copland, 3)…
This dissertation examines the ways in which people listen to music and how to make listening a more enjoyable experience. Copland does this by categorizing how we listen into three different planes. Throughout this dissertation he goes from explaining to persuading people to have a more complex way of listening to music. The one major problem that most people have when they listen to music is they tend to listen for the pure joy of it without thinking.…
In this essay, Living With Music, Ralph Ellison speaks of the importance of music in a person's life. He presents the contributions that it offers, such as giving people understanding, order, and meaning, while it also helps us shape our own unique social and cultural identity.…
Aaron Copland’s essay of How we Listen divides the listening of music into 3 different planes, (1) the sensuous plane, (2) the expressive plane, (3) and the sheerly musical plane. In each of the sections, Aaron defines illustrate and compares the planes against each other. Copland says most people listen to music in the primitive “sensuous plane”, listening simply for sheer pleasure. The “expressive plane” is when listeners try to find the meaning behind the notes, what the piece is saying, and what the piece is about. The third plane goes into the aspects of music and how it should be listened to. Copland had started his essay in an attempt to explain listening to music but ends off persuading the reader to enter into a more active kind of…
Listening to music is what most people do to entertain themselves or simply because it’s their passion. Others don’t like listening to music as much but Oliver Sacks writes about how a few people began to appreciate music after experiencing…
I think a lot of times we don't really listen to the music and don't appreciate the true or full meaning behind a piece. I know I am guilty of not really listening to the music's meaning. Many times I use music to change my mood. I can be bummed out about cleaning my room so I throw on some "happy" music to change my mood. I use music as a crutch instead of a learning experience. I often also find myself listening to the words in the song, but it is not always the lyrics that give the meaning to a song. There can be a song with no words and still give a sense of emotion and meaning through the notes or pace. After reading this essay I put on a couple of the songs by the composers Aaron Copland mentions in this essay. I tried to really listen to all three planes instead of listening to the music instinctively. This is something I have done before back in music class or when I took music lessons, but I forgot how beautiful music really is. Today many young adults, like us in highschool, no longer listen to music that has no lyrics. It is really a different feeling to listen to the melody or rhythm of the song then the crazy lyrics of the songs we listen to today. I think we still like music for the same reasons Copland discusses in his essay, but now the words in the songs play a bigger role in whether or not we listen to it. I think after reading this essay we can all learn to appreciate the meaning to…
Music is used to help people of every ethnicity, religion, and lifestyle, cope with different struggles, times of enjoyment, and life itself. But, what is it about music that makes it so therapeutic? It’s the fact that no matter what the genre of music is, it’s what message that artist is putting out into the world. It’s the beat, the tone, and the emotion behind the lyrics is what makes listeners feel the way they do because it speaks on a specific aspect of life and what someone can be going through.…
John Powell’s captivating book, Why You Love Music, digs deep into the minds of all to uncover why some musical elements make us cry, laugh, and love. This book promises to strengthen our knowledge on music, and focuses on the big question: Why? Why does a certain beat make us feel nostalgic, or why are we more focused under the influence of different styles of music. Powell’s intent is to inform readers of musical elements we would never even know to think of, and how those elements affect our lives. For example, who would have thought that repeating the chorus in songs trains our minds to get those top charts tunes stuck in our heads? I can gladly say that the author accomplishes what he set out to accomplish through this book. After reading, I…
Selwyn Duke describes on his periodical about the power of the music influence people. He states that if individual can be taught to read with rhymes and songs, then he or she can also learn the same way what is wrong and right. He mentions how music can be used to provide a positive education, such teaching kids on healthy eating habits. But, the most intriguing is how music and culture has impacted the people. How it intrigues kids from sounds that they have never hear and from things that they have never seen, such as a young girl might get a maternal instinct when she hears the sound of a baby crying. As the culture changes, so does the music because each generation finds the last generation music unappealing. The author also describes how each style…
It’s a well-known fact that one of the primary hobbies of humanity from the medieval times to now, is listening to music. Therefore, we can say music has become such an intricate part in our daily lives. Why has the art of playing of sounds and instruments become so alluring? According to most avid listeners of music in general, music provides enjoyment, satisfaction, or invokes a strong deep feeling in their hearts also known as ‘emo’.…
Although many research findings can be confusing or contradictory (Yehuda, 2011), it has been shown many ways and in many times that music affects the brain psychologically. Elliot, Polman, & McGregor (2011) found that music only has the desired psychological effect 50% of the time. Musical activity requires the use of most regions of your brain and almost every neural subsystem (Levitin, 2006). Hoffman & Lamme (1989) found that it is more helpful to learn with music and information is picked up more easily by the brain. Most times when background music is playing, people hear, but do not listen (Jourdaid, 1997). It is also shown by Jourdaid (1997) that while we hear with our brain stems, we listen with our cerebral cortex. When music is put in the background and we only hear it, the brain doesn’t meet or overcome new perceptual challenges, therefore nothing new is learned (Jourdaid, 1997).…
Music, in all its complexity can be seen as a living, breathing mechanism that has the ability to sink deep down into one’s soul and create feelings of awe, excitement and wonder. Music speaks to and connects people of all cultures, backgrounds and ideologies, creating a common bond between various members of the human species. When listening to a beautifully composed piece of music, I myself cannot help but feel connected to the instruments, the artists and the composer. It has been my experience that music not only helps me learn, but also helps me grow.…
Music has always been a part of us ever since the begging of time. It’s been with us threw the happy, great times and also for the not so happy bad times. We can express ourselves with music by telling a story with in the lyrics and even with the beat showing, telling how we are feeling. It can be a cheerful, carefree, joyful beat, to gloomy, mournful, blue beat, but not everyone has the same taste in music. Music it’s self is unbelievably stunning and so breathtaking.…
Obviously music has inspired a seemingly endless stream of fantasticproductions such as CD, MTV, broadcasting, concerts and so on, whichwe just cannot live without. Today music is not just something for funat all. It springs out general human feelings, needs and desires atevery level.Music can brings us information about cultures, history, science, andreligion all over the world. It is like the vase that can collect everylittle dew in every corner in the world and then pure it to irrigatepeople’s hearts and allow people to understand each other betterregardless of different languages, ages, and races.Music provides an opportunity to reduce stress and help us walkfearlessly towards difficulties. “Never give up never give in. There canbe miracles when you believe through hope is fragile it is hard to kill.“In this rush world it is inevitably that we sometimes feel so tired andfrustrated and even are going to lose our hope. When our favoritetunes start playing filled with magic and power, they are like thecatalyst to refresh our heart and to enable us to think on the righttrack In stead of beaten by adversities, we can feel so optimistic thatwe will continue being the truth seekers and rule our domainwhatever how hard it is.Answered without hesitation, music is an exploration of our deepestfeelings and motivations and one of the greatest of human treasure.Not only is it hard to measure how much those musicians’masterpieces bring into our society but also it is also difficult to…
IV. Thesis: Music has existed since the beginning of human civilization and It will be around as long as we are. It has the power to effect your mood, stimulate your brain cells, reduce stress and its even powerful enough to be used to heal and can be therapeutic. Music has so many physical benefits it should be considered an essential element of life. Listening to music is important to your brain development and has been known to enhance your intellect. It also has many emotional benefits to your body. Music is often referred to as a drug, mostly because it has more than just the ability to make you happy it can provoke almost any emotion and unlike recreational drugs music causes people to do things that are beneficial to themselves.…