Listening is Hard
Shhh.... What do you hear? (Silence) (Silence) (Silence) Have you ever heard of the musical piece, Four Thirty Three by John Cage? It is a contemporary piece, known to call into question the very nature of music. It also, interestingly enough, calls into question the very nature of silence. Because the piece, Four Thirty Three (4'33") can be given by any musician at any time. All the performer has to do is prepare, and wait in silence for four minutes and thirty three seconds. Cage, the composer wanted to bring the audience's attention to the ambient noise being made throughout a performance the wind people whispering movement of clothing He wanted to think about what makes intentional music different than the music we hear all around us all day every day. The brain is always processing sound waves around us turning noise into recognizable voices. Hearing is easy. Our brains do it for us. A...