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The Art of Listening
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Confessions of a Musician Who Can’t Read Music By L. David Hesler, 2005
Part III:
The Art of Listening So you’ve started making weird sounds on your guitar. Congratulations! And your friends are annoyed because you keep making up strange theme music to their favorite television shows when they hang out at your house. Right on! Here’s the next step: listen to some music. That’s right, go grab some of your favorite CDs or maybe open up that killer play list on your computer. Throw the volume knob up a bit and just listen to some music. This is your band right now. I know, you expected a drummer, bassist and vocalist to materialize as soon as you picked up the guitar. Sorry, but it doesn’t really happen like that (unless you’re really lucky). For now, your band has a convenient volume knob, skip button, and a blessed on/off switch. Trust me, years from now you’ll pray for that on/off switch. Let your band find a groove and just take it in. This is really the easiest part. But so many people don’t know how to listen. They think that once they have a guitar, that’s enough. To an extent, they may be correct. But you’ve got to know how to listen to other music, even while you’re not playing. And when you’re done listening to the music you love, try listening to some music you don’t love.
Try to identify in your own terms why you don’t like that music. And this isn’t just a chance to generalize and say, “Country sucks” or “Reggae is dumb”. Try to point out the musical elements, even if you don’t know what they really are. Remember, I can’t read sheet music. I nearly failed music theory. That stuff isn’t at play here. What’s happening is you’re learning to listen with your heart first and your mind second. You can say, “I don’t like the way the drummer does that” or “The guitarist is too rigid” or maybe the guitarist is sloppy. Don’t worry about technical terms. Just explain to yourself why you don’t like this music. Now, try finding at least three good things about these songs. Compare them to your favorite music and you might be surprised. Forget technical lingo and put aside generalizing stereotypes. If you can find even one good thing in the music you thought you hated, then you’re on your way. Now hit that power switch and start playing the guitar again!
L. David Hesler has been playing music for well over ten years, first as a drummer and then as a guitar player. See what a lack of music theory will lead to by checking out his collection of original music at : The Blackwater Project
"For those guitarist that want to achieve real success, then Read On... Confessions of a musician who can not read Music pt. 1
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"Nobody can take away the one thing I depend on - enjoying the music."
- Eric Johnson
Updated: 3/18/07
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