For this Prompt, I was supposed to listen to a piece of music over and over again and record my impressions. I found that I was as disoriented in the music after twenty listens than I had been after one, perhaps more so. What I didn’t mention is that I was actually writing down all my thoughts during each listening, thinking it would help me write the Blog Prompt faster. I think this greatly hindered my listening, as I was more focused on thinking about thinking about the music than I was on the actual hearing it. I also mentioned that I had a better time repeatedly listening to a song while I danced to it.
I decided to listen to Liebst du um Schönheit  by Clara Schumann again without writing anything or trying to disect my thoughts so much. I also gave in to whatever movements and responses I felt compelled to make. Every time I pressed repeat, I decided to say, ‘I don’t have to listen again, I get to’. And what a difference it made. I felt so much expression from the singer (Barbara Bonney, she slays me), and was moved by the push and pull of the accompaniment. I was no longer lost trying to describe the structure of the piece because I was no longer paying attention to it. Rather, I let each phrase wash over me and found myself anticipating the next note, the next breath, the next silence. This is quite like singing a piece that has been freshly memorized; I find that if I try to think of what comes next, I lose track of where I am, so the key is to always be only one tiny step ahead of myself, letting the next thing come along just in time.
The biggest difference is that I enjoyed the music. I re-read my first attempt at this Blog Prompt and was slightly worried to notice that I didn’t once mention liking or even feeling anything. The closest that description comes to any emotion was to say this or that part “interested” me. It was a very cerebral listening experience, and one that I see little point in repeating. I feel I understand music so better and more deeply if I’m not trying to analyze it so much as to connect with and internalize it. And I must always, always dance!
(I’d also like to take this moment to mention that Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis has profoundly impacted me and I am physically unable to listen to it without smiling idiotically and pressing ‘replay’ immediately. Most mind-bending experience from MUS 116, and that’s really saying something.)