Hearing and Listening
In the Miriam-Webster online dictionary, hearing is defined as the process, function, or power of receiving sound: specifically the special sense by which noises and tones are received as stimuli. Listening is defined as (1) to pay attention to sound (2) to hear something with thought attention: give consideration, and (3) to be alert to catch an expected sound. Although these are very similar, they are yet very different. In simpler terms, hearing is an automatic response in which sounds go through one ear and out the other, while listening is like hearing, but taking the sounds, comprehending them, and maybe even retaining them. To listen, you also have to clear your mind, and be able to focus on the right thing to listen to. The first and second definition of listening is the closest to how listening is used in World Music Drumming. Listening is constantly used in World Music Drumming ensembles. Without listening, there would be no World Music Drumming Ensembles...just noise... chaos.
Listening has a huge effect on our ensembles, hearing doesn’t. In an ensemble, hearing is only saying, “oh, that’s cool music,” or “I can hear something, but I have no idea what it is.” Listening is what’s important. In Samba for example, the lead-in and lead-out is a perfect example of listening. A call is played by the leader, and every member of the group has to listen, and then play an exact response. If you were to just hear the call, you probably wouldn’t know or care to respond. It’s like when a parent would yell at their kid over and over again. The kid hears them, but they’re not listening, because if they were, the parent wouldn’t have to yell anymore. Also, in any ensemble where there are multiple parts and/or instruments, listening is the most important thing possible. You have to listen before you can play your part or else, again, you are stuck with just chaotic noise. It is the second half of communication, where the first part is speaking, which is articulating in a way that could be understood. Communication is useless, and it wouldn’t be communication if there weren’t any listening. Communication, along with focusing are also essential parts to playing an ensemble to its highest potential.
Hearing is a required action for listening, but isn’t much on it’s own. Listening requires hearing, and thinking. You have to be able to comprehend what you hear in order to listen. Hearing and listening are similar, but very different. In an ensemble, it would be most beneficial to spend more time listening than hearing. Listening is not a sense, but an acquired habit. Listening is one of the most important habits that you can develop. You would never learn anything without listening. You can hear as much as you want, but it won’t help unless you listen.
In conclusion, hearing is in one ear and out the other and listening is using logical and analytical skills to come up with a conclusion about the sounds that you have heard. Hearing is an automatic response from the brain, while listening is a habit developed by hearing. Listening is used in all World music Drumming ensembles, and is a necessary component, along with communication and focusing, to perform any ensemble, or actually do almost anything in life, to its fullest potential. The only good time to just sit back and hear something in a class like this would be once there is a perfected, finished product, unless you are evaluating yourself or others, then you‘d want to listen. Otherwise, listening is always mandatory. A deaf person wouldn’t be very successful in a World Music Drumming class.
Back to other written works
