On Listening

Can you become a great musician without listening? Probably not. As a developing pianist, I make a point to attend almost every piano concert available in San Antonio. A great benefit of this is hearing pieces you have never heard that you really enjoy.You can broaden your musical taste, knowledge, and library of pieces just from attending concerts!

When training to become proficient at a musical instrument we tend to overlook the importance of listening. Instead, we focus solely on practicing the instrument and fail to assess the importance of becoming a better listener. Many professional authors state that they became successful writers through reading lots of books. This does not mean that a developing author who doesn’t read books will not be successful, but it does mean they are not exposed to the trends and systematically developed structures embedded in a typical book.

Over the course of the year, most students go through the practice blues and become unmotivated. Students then become interested in other activities and spend less time with their musical interests. I am confident that when students experience the rush of seeing a live professional performance, they will say,”I want to be able to do that!” and regain their motivation.

-Derek Adam, M.M.