NFX posted on February 07, 2007 05:37
"Active Listening" is the process of hearing the details in music that most people don't realize. We all know how to listen to a song and enjoy the combination of instruments, melody and rhythm. That's not hard to do. Active Listening isn't very difficult either after you've trained your ear and brain to process music differently.
When you're driving around listening to music or hanging out with friends and the radio is on, you might hear music and nod your head, tap your foot, dance, or do nothing, but you still hear the music and you still know if you like the song. You might know the words and sing or rap along. That is not Active Listening.
Active Listening is when you start to focus on the individual parts of a song so much that you begin to see the parts as individual pieces. You might focus on a particular hi-hat pattern or maybe the way a bass line plays slightly off beat. The little things that most people hear but don't consciously notice will stand out to you. You might be very impressed with what you hear but it won't be from the song as a whole, it will be from the technique. And at this stage you will be able to unlock the secrets of the pros.
When you are in Active Listening mode, your goal is to not enjoy the song; it's to study it. Start out with the things you can recognize easiest. Maybe it's just the kick and snare pattern. Try to hum a melody and listen to the tone intervals and timing between notes. The more you do this, the more things you will start to recognize. The more things you recognize, more patterns will appear, thus allowing you to grow from that knowledge.