How We Listen to Music essays

How We Listen to Music essays In the story "How We Listen," by Aaron Copeland, both a subjective attitude and an objective attitude occur in each separate plane that is being described. The subjective attitude is where everything is taking place in the listeners mind, where as they are unaffected by the world around them. The music becomes essential to them. The objective attitude is where the listener has something to do with the material object as distinguished from the mental picture. They are uninfluenced by emotion or personal prejudice. Many people listen to music on what Copeland describes as the sensuous plane. That is, to take in the music you are listening to without judging it in anyway. You hear this music without even recognizing that it exists. There is an objective attitude being displayed here, because the listener is uninfluenced by the personal feeling or prejudice that they hold. They merely listen to the music to escape the problems or negative feelings that they hold inside their mind. However, neither one of them are concentrating on the music they here. They can become lost within the music itself. The subjective attitude in the sensuous plane is where the listeners are pertaining to the nature of the music itself. It seems important in order to let them escape the feelings they have in their everyday life. The second plane in which Copeland describes is called the expressive plane. No music, according to Copeland, has a meaning that is possible to describe or explain; yet, every piece of music means something, whether it is the listener or the composer. Many listeners in this plane hold a subjective attitude because the music always seems to play a role in the listeners life, where as it might reminds them of something. It becomes personal, existing in their mind the true meaning of what they are listening to, yet they are unable to state it. This helps the listeners to experience differe...