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And see how far ‘body drumming’ has been taken by the tabla gurus of North India: Start by thinking in terms of ‘kick & snare’ (even if there’s no actual kit in the music), and find some corresponding ‘low & punchy-mid’ sounds from the surfaces around you. Keep things simple, solidifying the basic groove before adding the intricate details. So try just tapping your fingers on your desk, or in your pockets as you walk along, etc. Tapping: ever since our proto-human ancestors began banging sticks and rocks together in sequence, percussion has been a cornerstone of our shared music. You can start by just holding a long note over a static Indian tanpura drone (opens in new tab), and then exploring outwards from there at your own pace. Try harmonizing, copying non-vocal melodies, or anything else that comes to mind. and in any case, you can choose the music that suits your voice (and can improve fast as well - this is a good blog (opens in new tab) on basic vocal technique, posture, breath control, etc). Singing: don’t be shy if nobody’s around. ‘Shape-based’ memorization techniques are known to have incredible strength (opens in new tab) - and dance, as a powerful form of ‘ embodied cognition (opens in new tab)’, adds further layers of long-term mnemonic reinforcement, while imbuing the patterns with broader connective and emotional resonance. There are many ways to physically relate to music without an instrument in your hands - the three most fundamental are probably:ĭancing: Any method of ‘moving to music’ will deepen your connection to it: foot-shaking, headbanging, dancing, a full-sensory mosh-pit, etc. mirroring the music as it plays, or adding something to it).

If you’re somewhere where you can make noise, you can turn to more involved modes of ‘reflective’ and ‘reinterpretive’ listening (i.e. And for a different spin on a similar principle, check out Adam Neely’s excellent video on ‘ Learning to Like Contemporary Christian Music (the music I hate) (opens in new tab)’. try starting here (opens in new tab) - a thing I wrote for this very purpose, tracing hidden sonic links between Indian classical and rock, blues, jazz, jungle, hip-hop, house, techno, ambient, minimalism, and Western classical). So it’s worth taking some deliberate time to broaden your search (e.g.

the other 99% of the globe’s sonic variety, all filed under a single header?)

I’m not going to go into a ‘how to find new music’ brainstorm here (definitely a future lesson topic), except to say that nobody ever seems to regret pouring some proper time into it.Īnd I’d encourage everyone to look globally as well as locally (isn’t it strange that a record store may have dozens of aisles each for rock, classic rock, blues-rock, punk, alt-punk, pop-punk, etc.and then a single shelf in the corner for ‘world music’ - i.e. I find it’s absolutely worth spending a little time each month adding new albums and artists to your iTunes, Spotify, etc - and also making them easily accessible in ‘Recently Added’ playlists or similar (if you use an iTunes library then check out ‘ Smart Playlists (opens in new tab)’ - and, for me, the iTunes Match (opens in new tab) cloud database is definitely worth the £22/year, making all my music available on all my devices). But you can take it much further too - hear the late, great experimental composer Pauline Oliveros’ influential take on ‘radical attentiveness’ as a broader orientation towards life as well as music:Įase of choosing: It’s often a faff to get to the music we actually want on a phone screen, especially when on the move. This can be as easy as closing your eyes and zoning into your headphones rather than half-reading billboards through the train window.

But it’s worth being conscious of your habits here, and aiming for more involved listening modes when you get the chance. what level of head-nodding would turn active listening into reflective?). most people can focus better while cooking than reading), and are somewhat arbitrary (e.g. Naturally, these categories oversimplify (e.g. Reinterpretive: adding your own elements - e.g.Reflective: ‘mirroring’ the music in some way - e.g.Active: primarily focusing on the music - e.g.Casual: listening to music while doing something else - e.g.There are many ‘modes’ of listening, which I think you can roughly group into: One obvious way of using guitarless time is to listen to more music - either by going deeper into what we already like, or by finding new, fresh sounds. Musically, we are what we feed ourselves.