Having said that, it is possible that most of us have grown up listening to music from the day our faculties to listen began, even before we were born. Some of us could have listened to more noises than music or more silence than sounds. Whatever it is, music has been all around us.
Having been involved deeply with music for many years now, it fascinates me to discuss about this with people - musicians and non musicians, ardent music lovers as well as casual listeners. I realised then, that not everyone listens to music the same way I do. There are various ways in which they listen. I would like to take you through a list that I developed on the basis of my interactions with people on the various ways in which they relate to music.
- Nonchalant listener - This is the kind of person who is not so impressed by music, but at the same time cannot avoid the notes falling into his ears. However well the music is played it doesn't make sense to him as he least cares about the music but is perhaps engaged in something else more important to him.
- Casual listener - This person listens to music occasionally but does not delve into the music. He loves it but is not so literate when it comes to music as a subject. He appreciates it and feels good or not so good about the music, but it does not inspire him. He can live without music.
- Addictive listener - A compulsive listener to music who cannot do anything without listening to music or having it played in the background. Music is what drives him. This person is obsessed with the pleasure of music. Sometimes his behaviour is affected by the kind of music he listens to. We see this kind of person on the road with his headphones on, shaking his head and walking to the rhythm of the song. Everything in his life needs to be connected to music somehow.
- Critical listener - This listener likes to dissect the music and look into each aspect of it - the way it is played, the details of the production, the people involved, the highlight of the music and also whatever was not so right with the music. In most cases he is either a musician himself or a music critic. This kind of listener is one who has sold himself to music and every time he listens to it, he does it with such deep passion. He loves to experience the flow of the music and enjoys every bit of it irrespective of what the genre is as long as there is some music.
- Emotional listener - This is the listener who associates himself with the context of the song. The lyrics and the melody of the song strikes a chord and he is immediately transported to a different world where he becomes one with the song. It is this segment of the market that the music directors target with their melancholic melodies. Often times in my personal experience I have listened to certain songs and I have immediately associated it with a certain place or a context in the past especially my childhood. I do not have the answer to this linking that happens in the mind. It could be possible that the song was actually played when the incident happened or it just connects to it somehow. However, there is a deep emotional connection to the melody or the music.
- 'Soul' listener - I would call this the highest level of listening to music as the listener is not so bothered about the quality or the genre of the music but is deeply concerned as well as connected with the content of the music. He doesn't connect with the music at the mind level but at a level higher than that - at the 'soul' level. He allows the music to calm his restless mind and spirit. The lyrics in the song instills hope in him, touches the point of an inner need and elevates him to a place in his soul where he experiences an inner healing. Here is where most of the divinely ordained music exhibits its power to heal. Music becomes more a medicine than a pleasure to this listener.
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