How does someone develop their listening skills?
A. Good listening skills are essential to the enjoyment of classical music. A listener should be able to distinguish between what is melody and what is accompaniment at the very least. But further listening skills will enable you to appreciate such musical devices as counterpoint, orchestration, harmony, phrasing, and even FORM. Listening to FUGUES will help you internalize COUNTERPOINT. HARMONY is perhaps best heard in CHORAL SINGING. And PHRASING is front and foremost with a SONATA SOLOIST such as the Mozart Violin Sonatas. FORM is the OVERALL STRUCTURE of any movement (song) concerning the recurrence of its 2 or 3 MAJOR THEMES. MOST movements have a DEVELOPMENT SECTION in the middle, which is an opportunity for the composer to ROCK THE HOUSE!
