Are You Listening Or Just Playing?

By Anne Sullivan  

We musicians spend so much time doing. Our harp lives revolve around practice, lessons, rehearsals and concerts. We do a lot. Sometimes, though, we forget one of the most important things we musicians do - we listen.

The sound of the harp is part of what attracted us to it. We have favorite pieces of music that energize us and make our hearts sing. But how much of our music time do we spend listening? Probably not enough.

So take some time this week to practice listening. You can begin easily by taking a moment or two during each day to ponder the sounds around you. Once you start listening, you’ll find even more to hear and enjoy.

Try listening to these everyday sounds:

• The pace of your footsteps?
• The pitch of someone’s voice?
• The speed of your foot tapping?
• The pitch of the beep of your microwave oven?
• The rhythm of the raindrops?
• The sound a pot makes just before it boils?
• The sound of a car as it passes by outside?
• The rhythm of your breathing?
• The pace of someone’s speech?
• The dynamics of a breeze?