enhancing the understanding of classical Music through engaging visual design
I’m delighted to announce the online publication of my chapter about the Visual Listening Guides for The Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory, edited by music theorist J. Daniel Jenkins! The print volume will be available in 2024.
Online access to this article is limited to those who have a subscription to Oxford Handbooks Online (many academic institutions will have access). If you can’t access it and are interested in reading the chapter, please contact me.
When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellations of thousands of live performances, including of classical music, across the globe from March 2020, it greatly reduced opportunities for the Visual Listening Guide to be made available to audiences at concert halls. I’m happy to say, though, that individual interest and use of the Guides for at-home listening and pedagogical purposes remained steady during this period—a big thank you for your support!
During this challenging period, some people saw an opportunity to deepen their musical listening skills. That’s what Adam Liette, Director of Operations at Musical U, a thriving online musical training platform, told me in late March 2021. (I was previously interviewed by Musical U about my Visual Listening Guides in 2017.) Recently, Musical U successfully launched a new program for their members called Living Music. A series called “Active Listening” was underway and Adam asked if I could do a live virtual workshop presentation on the topic of “visualizing music”—with the Visual Listening Guides—as a practice for facilitating active listening. As this topic is a passion of mine, of course I said yes!
On April 28, I gave my presentation via Zoom, taking an engaged and enthusiastic audience through how the Visual Listening Guide is designed and then showing how it works with audio excerpts, focusing particularly on Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”. My hope and goal was that showing this process would give them a way into developing a deeper understanding and appreciation of the art and craft of the symphony, and to approach listening to these works with greater confidence and enjoyment.
Here’s some of the lovely feedback the workshop received:
“This workshop is a journey from darkness to light for me. I know so little about symphonic structure, etc. that this is all new. Very interesting. Learning much. Thank you.”
“The visuals REALLY ADD to listening understanding and enjoyment!”
“This is amazing. I feel inspired.”
“You make these giants of music so legible and accessible—we are really looking forward to digging in.”
“I so admire how you have brought together your insights from performance and study to create a way to bring non-musicians into the fold that also helps musicians deepen their understanding of classics. So grateful!”
Thank you, Musical U, for this opportunity to share my work with your wonderful community of music learners!
Note: This live workshop was recorded and will continue to be displayed for Musical U students.
I’m posting this piece of news a bit later than desired but I do want to share that I was very excited to have the Visual Listening Guide recently make its Australian début!
On August 9 and 10, 2019, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane distributed my Guide to Dvořák’s "New World" Symphony for their concerts. To prepare audiences, Matthew Hodge, the QSO’s Director of Sales and Marketing, created and shared this great Facebook video explaining how the Guide works:
It’s always nice to get feedback from audience members about their experiences of using the Guide. Here are a few lovely comments I received from QSO concert goers:
“I so appreciated that. I had made myself very familiar with the entire piece all week in preparation for recognising instruments as they featured throughout. I was blown away then by the fact this sheet was handed to me. It has allowed me to learn further by attempting to follow it while I have Dvořák playing on my stereo at home.”
“It was really great to have something tangible to follow along with (that wasn’t just a paragraph of words). I really enjoyed the way the guide outlined and described the sections i.e. introduction - “very fast”. […] A very, very cool idea! ”
“Our teenage children really enjoyed this guide, and got a lot out of following it. For my husband and I, we were too focused on watching the performance and only glanced at it occasionally. But, it was a nice touch and interesting to look at after the performance. ”
“I loved the idea, and was planning to use it during the performance, but then decided to just listen and enjoy (it’s my favourite symphony). But I plan to listen to it again at home on YouTube and follow along with the guide. I’m going to show it to my kids’ music teacher too.”
“Very novel and self explanatory for an experienced audience member and excellent for newcomers to classical music.”
Thank you, Queensland Symphony Orchestra!