Carry it Forward: Vertical Listening

The idea of vertical listening was not a new idea to me. I always new that there were many components to music that collected together, to make the whole. I just never realized the importance of all of it. After taking time and listening to each individual part (as we did in class, with the rendition of "Maple Leaf Rag") it made me appreciate the different voices within the music. Before that day I never heard the intricacies of the bass line, or the complicated beauty of a jazz melody. Also, I can finally understand the music as a whole, with all the parts working together. It's like observing different segments of a painting, one at a time, then taking a step back and appreciating how they collect into the whole.

This idea, of isolating the individual sounds within music in order to get an idea of the whole sound, has led me to be more open about the music I listen to. Before knowing this technique I would judge a piece of music within the first ten seconds of hearing it. But, after learning about vertical listening I take some time to listen to each individual part and how it fits into the song. Learning this technique has led me to liking a few pieces I didn't like in the past. For example, a friend of mine gave me a copy of Mahler's 8th symphony, or the "Symphony for one Thousand" (since it takes 1,000 people to play it). I thought "Oh man, this is gonna be sweet, one thousand people!) Then after listening to it I thought it was just a novelty item to have a symphony for a thousand people. I hated the piece. Then, a couple weeks later I learned about vertical listening and decided to give it another chance. I sat down and try to listen to the hundreds of things going on and then it hit me. I fell in love with the piece. It's now one of my favorite pieces of music. It's so full of vertical components that I don't think i could ever get sick of it.

Vertical listening is an idea that I will definitely carry with me for the rest of my life. It is a skill that is so vital to me that I cannot see how I did without it. I often listen to music and this changed how I am going to listen to music, in a very positive way!