1. A Graduate Presentation By Hilary Janysek
Effective Listening
A Graduate Presentation
By Hilary Janysek

2. Introduction What is music?
List all of the emotional
responses you can have
to music
List the musical characteristics that create that response
How can we ensure this emotional response is conveyed/received?
Listening is a skill that can be developed/improved
Factors:
Performer’s preparation and performance
Listener’s subjectivity
Acoustic environment

3. Performer’s Preparation and Performance
Determine the goal of the performance
Technical goals
Desired emotional response
Learning Sequence
LISTEN TO YOURSELF
Emotionally
Find your own interpretation
Listen to others
DO NOT count the number of mistakes
DO listen critically to decide what you like, what you want to include
Nancy Toff Says: “Use recordings to springboard to experimentation and stylistic development”

4. Performer’s Preparation and Performance, Cont.
Practicing
Metronome, and drones/tuner = yes
BUT WHAT DO I DO WITHOUT THEM???

5. Performer’s Preparation and Performance, Cont.
Practicing, cont.
Feel the resonance, hear the resonance
What does the audience want to hear?
Record yourself
One of the best ways to improve your playing, and LISTENING! 
When should you record yourself?
How should you listen back?
Pat George Listening Project
Creating visual aids for improvement

7. Listener’s Subjectivity
What does the audience want to hear?
Why is the audience’s listening experience different than yours?
Audience perspective is different based on ________________
ACOUSTICS!

8. Acoustic Environment Acoustic history
18th and 19th Century Shoebox design
Walls, floors, and ceiling reflected sound waves
Haydn, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn created traditional orchestral sound
Composers and performers learned to structure their techniques based on their acoustic environment

9. Acoustic Environment, cont.
Acoustic History, cont.
Early 20th Century – combining science and music
Widened back of halls
Reduced ceiling heights
Sound-absorbing technology
Dr. Beranek: Music, Acoustics, and Architecture
Factors that create subjective listening experiences
Intimacy and presence
Liveness and envelopment
Warmth
Loudness
Clarity and Definition
Brilliance

10. Acoustic Environment, cont.
Remember, listening is a SKILL!
Practice listening to acoustics
Practice Rooms
MIB 229
Microphone placement
HAVE FUN EXPERIMENTING!!!

11. Bibliography
Brody, Mitchell D., and James Phelan. The Complete Guide to the
Flute: from acoustics and construction to repair and maintenance. Boston: Conservatory Publications, 1980.
George, Patricia. “A Listening Project.” Flute Talk Magazine 35, no.
6 (February 2016),
Jaffe, J. Christopher. The Acoustics of Performance Halls: Spaces
for Music from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.
Toff, Nancy. The Flute Book. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2012.