Opening children's ears through Imaginative Listening

I have a saying…

“Music is like vegetables. Some you like, some you don’t like, but they’re all good for you”.

Invariably, you get a pupil who says that they don’t like any vegetables, to which I respond – “What about crisps, or chips?”

Now, I know that isn’t the most nutritional of answers, however it gets pupils onboard with my philosophy of listening to, and appreciating music.

In one of my many roles, I’m a Primary Music Specialist with Scottish Borders Council. As a teacher (and learner), I’m most engaged through listening, and I have a real interest in the power listening possesses to help engage pupils in developing their Knowledge of Music – that being their understanding of the unique expressive power that music possesses. For me, the imagination is the gateway to opening pupil’s ears (and minds) to this expressive power.

One of the Experiences and Outcomes for music in Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence is: ‘I have listened to a range of music and can respond by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work.’ Getting a pupil to share whether they ‘liked’ a piece of music or not, or to discuss ‘how it made them feel’ is quite easy on a superficial level. Encouraging and equipping pupils to elicit the musical ‘why’ behind their thoughts is where the real challenge and benefit lies.

Without the confidence to share or the language to explain, moving a pupil from ‘hearing’ to ‘listening and discussing’ can be quite a stagnant process. I have found Imaginative Listening breaks down the confidence barrier when it comes to sharing and provides a wonderful opening through which to instil a shared language around the musical ‘why’. Pupils love engaging with their imaginations, and music is a wonderful vessel through which to channel this love of the imagination.

Imaginative Listening is exactly as the name would suggest – An opportunity for pupils to listen to music and assign meaning based on their own imaginations.

This is a great start or end to a lesson, and is particularly effective in lessons that occur directly after a break, as it helps to calm the body and awaken the mind. I have used Imaginative Listening to great success with every age level in the Primary setting. When engaging the pupils in Imaginative Listening, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer; after all, music is like vegetables. The pupils are encouraged to be as creative as possible with their answers, and all opinions are valued. In terms of potential repertoire, programmatic music is the best, as it has been composed with some kind of narrative in mind. When starting out, the BBC Ten Pieces resource is a fantastic starting point, as there are 30 ready made programmatic pieces awaiting unfurling. Once your confidence in facilitating the activity has grown, progression comes in the form of unpacking each pupil response from a music-concept perspective.

This is where the shared-language and understanding starts to develop. I pose questions such as, “Why do you think the music made you think of that?” or “What do we know about music that might help to explain your story?” The language that I eventually want the pupils to use is the language I model from the very beginning. For example – “I can see how you imagined that as a battle scene, the dynamics were very loud, the texture was thick, and there were a lot of percussion instruments.”

In today’s day and age of short attention spans, Imaginative Listening is a sure fire way to purposefully engage your pupils in listening to music. It is also a great way to help your pupils learn to share and explain their thoughts and feelings about music.

Not only this, it helps foster curiosity and exposes pupils to great music that they may not have otherwise come into contact with.

Introducing Imaginative Listening in the early years of a pupil’s education invariably leads to more substantive conversations about music in the upper years. Imaginative Listening is one of those activities that will leave your pupils wanting more, and for me, that is the perfect barometer of success. Please be warned, it may very well awaken your imagination too!

A step-by-step guide to Imaginative Listening

1. Choose a piece of music.

2. Ask your pupils to find their own space, lie down, and close their eyes. If the floor isn’t conducive to lying, then sitting is fine, as long as they close their eyes. After all, closing your eyes strengthens your ears.

3. Inform the pupils that they’ll be listening to a piece of music that they’ve probably never heard before, and that as they listen, they should imagine what the piece of music is about e.g. a story, a picture, an event, a time of day, or year.

4. Play the piece of music. Once finished, ask the pupils to sit up slowly, open their eyes, and share what they thought the piece of music was about. You may need to have a sharing order already devised, as more often than not, everyone wants to share.

5. Once everyone has shared, play the piece of music again, however this time ask the pupils to imagine one of the stories their peers shared, so as to give them a different perspective on the same piece. This is also beneficial for those who are less confident at the task, as it gives them some examples to tap into.

6. After a couple of weeks, start to expand the sharing session into the ‘why’, encouraging deeper reflection about the music, and the use of musical vocabulary.