Focus: Learning to Listen

When we ask our students to focus, we mean more than paying attention to the notes,

counting correctly, and remembering where their fingers go. We also mean really

listening to what they are playing.

But focus can sometimes become too narrow. Have you ever concentrated so hard on

counting that you forgot which note came next? Or worked so carefully on the notes

that you stopped noticing the rhythm? You were paying attention, but one detail took

up so much of your attention that something else slipped away.

When we are first learning a piece, that close attention to individual details is

necessary. We work out the notes, count a tricky rhythm, practice a fingering, and

decide how to shape a phrase. Each part deserves careful practice.

As the piece becomes familiar, we begin to broaden our attention. We learn to monitor

all those things we have worked on so carefully, almost as though we are listening “out

of the corner of our ear.” We hear the notes, the rhythm, the dynamics, and the steady

beat as parts of one musical whole. Our attention stays active, ready to notice when

something needs a little adjustment, while the music keeps moving.

That takes very attentive ears!

Duets give us a wonderful opportunity to develop this kind of listening. Each person

has to hear their own part while listening to the other person. We have to notice how

the parts fit together, keep a shared beat, and hear when one part needs to come

forward while the other plays more softly. We even listen during our rests: our fingers

may be waiting, but our ears and our sense of the beat keep going.

When we practice alone, it is easy to speed up through familiar passages, slow down

when something gets difficult, or add a little pause without realizing it. Another

musician cannot always predict those changes. That is one reason we practice keeping

a dependable beat even when we are the only person playing.

Choose a comfortable practice tempo that gives you time to manage the difficult

passages. A metronome can help you notice rushing or hesitation. As you become

more secure, listen beyond the individual beats to the shape and flow of the music.

With a duet partner, listening begins before the first note. A shared count or breath

helps us start together. Then we stay attentive through the phrases, the rests, and the

final release. During a practice performance, if a small slip happens, we keep listening

and find our way back together. After finishing the whole piece, we can return to that

spot and work on it.

These habits prepare us for many kinds of music-making. Someday you might

accompany a singer or play in a group with guitar, drums, or other instruments. You

will need a dependable pulse, an ear for balance, and the flexibility to respond to the

musicians around you. Even an expressive change of pace becomes something you do

together.

Two students sitting side by side at a piano are practicing all of this. As their own

parts become more secure, they can hear more of what they are creating together, and

begin to shape the music as partners.