Active Listening Checklist

One tool that musicians use to sharpen their listening skills is an active listening checklist. Active listening is a special type of listening that allows the listener to pay close attention to details in the music so that they can gather as much information about the music as possible.

The active listening checklist will cover the musical elements from Unit 1. You can reference this checklist throughout the rest of the course.

Listen to Antonin Dvorak’s Song to the Moon, performed by Renee Fleming and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Fill in the third column of the table with your answers to the questions as you hear musical elements in the sound clip.

Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2017

Most of these questions are not an either/or. Be sure to justify your answers.

You may want to listen to the piece several times, each time focusing on a specific musical element. For example, the first time you may listen for pitch, then the next time for rhythm, and so on. Your answer may also change as you listen to the piece several times.

Pitch

  1. Do you hear voices, instruments, or both?
  2. What kinds of instruments (if any) do you hear?
  3. Does the scale sound happy (major), sad (minor), or both at different times?
  4. Does the harmony sound pleasing (consonant) or displeasing (dissonant) to your ears?

Rhythm

  1. Is the piece generally slow (adagio), medium (moderato), or fast (allegro)?

Dynamics

  1. Is the piece mostly loud (forte) or soft (piano)?
  2. Do you hear any subito dynamic changes? When*?
  3. Does the music gradually get louder (crescendo) or softer (decrescendo)? When?*

Melody

  1. Is there one main melody? Why or why not?
  2. Can you hear a specific tonality? Can you tell when the music is returning “home” to a tonic chord?

Form

  1. Does the melody repeat?
  2. What form (12 bar blues, concerto, sonata, other) do you think this piece is in?

*To answer the question “when,” listen to the music and notate the minute and second when you hear the musical element you are listening for.

Once you have completed the checklist, write a brief paragraph describing what you learned by practicing active listening. In the paragraph, answer the following questions: