We hear sounds all day long but many times, we do not truly “listen.” There is a difference between “hearing” and “listening.” When we LISTEN fully, we use a higher level of consciousness

Hearing vs. Listening (Five hundred words)
We hear sounds all day long but many times, we do not truly “listen.” There is a difference
between “hearing” and “listening.” When we LISTEN fully, we use a higher level of
consciousness to discern surrounding sounds. Some sounds are used to create music where
most sounds might be considered “extraneous noise.” Assignment: For an extended period
during a more active part of your day (minimum fours hours), keep a journal/diary of all
sounds encountered – they may be sounds from different places if you are having an active
day. Please avoid the waking up period of your day as this instructor has received a number of
cheating essays re: the waking up sounds, kitchen sounds, fan whirling, etc. Purpose of this
assignment is to elaborate about your personal sound encounters, heightening your awareness of
noises or pleasant sounds taken for granted during daily activities, and enhancing ability to
isolate individual sounds. If you are having a slow day – keep a diary of sounds encountered
through an entire day. You might think of your journal as something you might want to
pass down to a child – something that captures an interesting part of your life at this time.
One of the most important parts of developing an appreciation for music is learning to
isolate sounds. The next time you are in Starbucks, break down the cacophony: You hear
someone placing an order at the counter. Shift your focus to the coffee machine steaming
the milk or isolate the person talking behind you – someone else is talking on cellphone –
shift focus to background music – shift back to chatter at counter – maybe someone opens
the door – a car zooms by! Then someone across the room coughs! Listen to the rhythmic
interplay between coffee machines, set against background music, then listen to the
multitude of sounds as a whole – a “symphony of sounds!” As a warm-up to this project,
view the following video (fast forward to 1:00)