Listening to music

I only get anything out of music - hearing, playing, coaching or conducting - if I know it really well. This is sometimes a problem at concerts with a programme of new music, or just repertoire I don't know. I try hard to concentrate and of course I can enjoy it on a certain level, but if I can't engage with it from a perspective of familiarity, I find it very hard not to switch off some of the time. If I know the music well, on the other hand, I concentrate extremely closely.

I often envy people who are not like this, either because their powers of concentration are better or because they appreciate music in a more direct way that doesn't depend so much on having a sense of overview before being able to enjoy the detail. (Obviously this also depends on the type of music. I guess I'm principally talking about 'classical' concert music, of any period, though I often find with jazz it's a similar problem if I don't have any prior knowledge of the material/artists.) And I have often felt annoyed with myself and thought, what on earth is wrong with you, you have the unbelievable good luck to be in an auditorium listening to these great artists interpret great music for you and you are sitting there thinking about who you forgot to email and do we need to buy bread. But it's no good. If I want to get more out of it the only answer is to prepare beforehand by listening to recordings, and if possible looking at/playing through a score. Once I'm in there I find it really hard.

It raises the question: what does it even mean, 'to concentrate on music'? What in fact is concentration at all, and is it really meaningful to use the same word for what we try to do in a concert and what we try to do when we drive a car or sit an exam? If any psychologists or philosophers of language are out there I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

This relates to another topic I have a lot to say about, the process of learning music, how I approach it and what it really means to 'know' music. But that will have to wait for another time.