Active Listening

Author’s note: I had the good fortune, at the invitation of Jeremy Dittus, director of the Dalcroze School of Movement and Music, to attend classes at the Dalcroze Academy in Oberlin. Observing the prevalence of active listening and seeing how others use this principle in their teaching was fascinating and inspiring. Many thanks to the faculty and students for generously allowing me to observe their classes.

“Just listen.” 

These were the first words I heard in a eurhythmics class. I stood on the stage at Ithaca College in a class taught by my mentor, Jack Stevenson, and thought, “Okay, I can do that. I know how to listen. I’m a musician. I’ve been listening forever.”

Wrong.

At the very least, I was partially wrong. After about five minutes I realized that the listening I was experiencing was nothing like what I’d learned as an undergraduate student. This listening took energy! Active listening, one of ten principles of our practice, is arguably the essence of our work, and I can’t imagine a Dalcroze lesson without it.

The power of our practice is that we have a myriad of ways to teach students to listen deeply. Active listening permeates each branch of our work, fusing with the other principles and teaching strategies to create purposeful movement. To me, it is the most crucial of our principles (and my favorite). Yet I struggled writing this article. Why? It seemed full of redundancy with each draft. Sentence after sentence read, “Here’s an example of active listening.” “Here’s another way we use active listening.” “Active listening is the basis of this exercise,” and so on. But then I realized—active listening is everywhere. For the Ted Lasso fans reading, it’s very much like Roy Kent—here, there, and ab-so-lute-ly everywhere.

The distinction between the types of listening is worth exploring. Hearing (or listening) is simply receiving sound waves through our ears and transferring that information to our brains for processing. Passive listening means consuming sound without eliciting a response, like listening to music while gardening or having a television on in the background. Passive listening is a “one and done” experience. It has value in society for emotional, cultural, and psychological reasons, but in the world of music education and performance, active listening is essential.

Active listening means hearing deeply. It requires a physical or verbal response that shows that someone is fully engaged in the music, using what they hear as the impetus for movement. It is a living process that requires concentration, curiosity, and purpose. We hear something, experience it physically, then categorize and interpret it. Active listening heightens our artistic and intellectual abilities and results in personal and artistic growth.

The teaching, counseling, and leadership worlds have long used active listening to foster better communication—for us, that means becoming better communicators of music. Language development itself requires four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (English Club, 2025). That path is exactly the same for becoming fluent in the language of music: We begin with active listening, use what we hear to play (speak) music, then turn those experiences into music reading and, finally, writing (dictation). Active listening also helps us preserve our mental capacity. A recent study published in Science Direct found that just one hour a week of active listening significantly strengthened the brain’s working memory, which is essential for learning, focus, critical thinking, memory, and emotional regulation (Heid, 2023).

Active Listening in the Eurhythmics Classroom

Jaques-Dalcroze said, “There is something profoundly ludicrous in the fact that, while musical instinct is based on the experience of the ear, a child is taught exclusively to play and sing, never to hear and listen” (1921, 57). All the Dalcroze strategies live under the umbrella of active listening; I could fill several editions of Dalcroze Connections with examples. What follows here are examples from all branches of the method—eurhythmics, solfège, and improvisation.

Anyone who has been in a eurhythmics class has heard phrases such as “step the beat,” “clap the rhythm you hear,” “when I say change…,” “when you hear a new rhythm, find a partner.” Each of these instructions requires active listening. It’s the beauty of our work—the teacher doesn’t tell, but rather, invites students to listen and react, to play and respond. Teachers create nuanced, imaginative improvisation that inspire listening and movement, leading students to discovery. Often, teachers begin a class by improvising music to create an atmosphere for the ensuing lesson, incorporating elements of what the class will experience as the lesson progresses. Students listen, move, and begin to learn before even realizing the lesson has begun. It’s no wonder students experience joy during lessons. Marie-Laure Bachmann wrote,

…the later requires at least two things of them: to listen and move about, and to move about and to listen…the moment invariably comes at which he is actively working on the conscious establishment of links between these two types of activities. That he should dispense with this ambition might well be thought an attractive and desirable thing; but it would no longer be eurhythmics.” (1991, 130–131)

In the exercise outlined below, the principle of active listening forms a canopy under which several Dalcroze strategies (indicated in parentheses) combine to introduce or reinforce a musical concept. Note that only #6 and part of #9 require a non-music cue—every other step is initiated by the music itself.

1. Teacher plays rhythm A; students step it (association)
2. When students hear a new rhythm (rhythm B), they step it (association, aural reaction)
3. If students hear a rhythm only in the upper register, clap the rhythm (association, aural reaction)
4. Students step the opposite rhythm—when they hear A, they step B, and vice versa (dissociation, aural reaction)
5. When students hear both rhythms together, they find a partner and tap the rhythms (social interaction, dissociation)
6. Students step rhythm A while clapping rhythm B, then switch between hands and feet when they hear the signal “change” (dissociation, verbal reaction)
7. When students hear rhythm C, they step it backwards (association, aural reaction)
8. When students hear rhythm D, they stand in place, tapping the rhythm lightly (incitation/inhibition, aural reaction)
9. The class performs a broken canon, first with visual cues, then aural; they then perform an uninterrupted canon by stepping (canon, dissociation, visual reaction, aural reaction, inhibition/incitation)

I observed a eurhythmics class on compound meter taught by Jeremy Dittus. Working in small groups, students made a windmill (hands touching the center of the circle). They stepped divisions, and when they heard a trill from the piano, they changed direction while continuing to step. In this simple exercise, active listening served as the umbrella for aural reaction, time/space/energy (T/S/E), spatial orientation, social interaction, and association. At first, the trills came at a predictable interval; as the exercise progressed, the placement of the trill was random, requiring even more focused listening from the students. They couldn’t assume when the signal would occur—instead, they had to remain engaged throughout the exercise. Active listening doesn’t stop; we can’t disengage and still be successful. This is a powerful example of how active listening was the foundation of the exercise, while the strategies reinforced the musical concept. It’s pedagogical magic.

We regularly teach phrasing, shape, and breath in our classes. Active listening encourages students to focus on phrase length; to do so, they are also, perhaps unconsciously, listening for harmony, use of motives, and nuance. Lauren Hodgson generously shared an activity she uses with children to teach phrasing. Here, active listening combines with the strategies of social interaction, improvisation, and T/S/E. Lauren writes,

I think it’s so powerful that even very young students can respond to the length of a phrase. I love doing activities where we establish a “home,” the students move away from home, then return on time. I always emphasize “not too early, not too late, but right on time!” They have to navigate time/space/energy, and as their listening becomes more sensitive, they are able to arrive back at home right as the last note is played. (Usually I start an activity like this with a short musical cue on the piano for them to turn around and go home, then I take it away and use just breath/space).

Lauren Hodgson, pers. comm.

The Dalcroze strategy “follow” requires active listening in more subtle ways. A follow introduces a rhythm or short phrase that participants express in movement, responding to and showing changes in tempo, character, register, etc. To increase the challenge, the rhythm may be obscured in the piano improvisation. When this happens, movers have to use their inner hearing to maintain the pattern accurately, and their active listening is internalized. This is a skill students build through their other experiences in eurhythmics, solfège, and improvisation. For a possible example of a musical follow, see example 1.

1

Musical Follow Example

Mary Dobrea-Grindahl

There’s a satisfying sense of completion in ending a class with a piece of music. In some way, when we teach rep, the game is rigged: We spend an entire class working on musical concepts found in the piece, and by the time it is introduced, students know exactly what to listen for and have abundant insight into what they hear. It’s the culmination of the listening experiences built throughout a class. What a beautiful way to build confidence and skills while preparing students to study plastique animée.

Solfège and Active Listening: A Natural Pairing

Can you imagine a solfège class without active listening? Listening in the ear-training environment is not unique to our practice, but when we combine active listening with our teaching strategies, solfège becomes alive and joyful. After all, “one cannot pretend to be a good musician simply by the fact that one has good ears; it is necessary to know how to listen to that which we hear and to grasp that which we have heard” (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1948, 31).

Here are some of my favorite ways to use active listening in the solfège classroom.

Teaching Chord Quality

When students hear a major sound, they step forward; minor, backward; augmented, step with arms outstretched; diminished, arms around waist. (I watched a similar exercise with 7th chords in Jeremy’s solfège class and Katie Couch’s class, when she reviewed a song with students; exercises like this can be applied to learning an unlimited number of concepts.)

Singing Antecedent-Consequent Phrases

Students work with a partner. Person A improvises an antecedent phrase with given parameters; the partner answers with a consequent. The consequent phrase should make musical sense and use a rhythmic and melodic motif from the first phrase, and begin on a pitch that flows naturally from the first phrase. This requires a different but equally important kind of listening experience because the impetus for listening comes from the students rather than the teacher.

Singing Scales

Students sing a scale in trichords; on the signal “hop,” they stop singing but hear the pattern internally. On the signal “hip,” they resume singing. Example 2 illustrates this activity.

2

Trichord Verbal Reaction with Internal Hearing

Many Facets of Active Listening in Improvisation

Active listening in improvisation is a sophisticated experience that requires discerning listening from students and teachers alike. A teacher’s improvisation is the invitation to listen and cannot be taken for granted. Even something as simple as playing an introduction to an exercise helps guide students’ listening—it’s active listening before active listening! During a lesson, teachers constantly adapt their improvisation to meet the needs of the students, helping them to home in on what to listen for through their articulation, voicing, pedal, harmonic rhythm, and register. The synergy between teacher and students is remarkable.

I had this experience during a class with Michael Joviala. The musical subject was meter of 5. It’s natural to try to divide it into groups of two and three, regardless of the tempo. Michael’s use of register, articulation and harmony allowed us to hear and “be” in five, without needing any further direction. In that same lesson, we performed an exercise where one partner created a rhythm in 5 through stepping and gestures; their partner listened with their eyes and inner hearing, then matched the rhythm with an instrument.

Improvising movement requires active listening; here again, a synergetic relationship takes place between the music and movers. Movers improvise movement that matches the music they hear and vice versa. As the improvisers listen to each other with awareness, the line between who is leading and who is following is blurred; it’s like being a part of a chamber music group.

An Amazing Phenomenon

I’m committed to the idea that we listen to bodies all the time. When I watch someone walk down the street, I hear music. When someone gestures in a conversation, I imagine dynamics. When people walk together, they invariably end up at the same speed—it’s entrainment. When I’m teaching and see someone move, I hear music. The music exists first in my inner hearing, and then I reproduce it for the mover in class. We can’t help ourselves—music is everywhere. Does that take the idea of active listening too far for you? I’m interested in your thoughts!

Jaques-Dalcroze wrote “the ideal teacher must be at the same time psychologist, physiologist, and artist” (1906). Our work is joyful and playful, but despite that, we are asking people to use their bodies in front of others; this creates vulnerability and intimacy. It is essential that teachers learn to understand their students through their physical reaction in class, to let body language cue us to next steps and understand the comfort level of our students. It is incumbent on us to create a safe space that allows students to reach their full potential. As teachers, we have a tremendous responsibility to honor the body language of our students.

Improvisation class for teacher trainees is the culmination of listening skills developed in eurhythmics and solfège. Students learn to listen to themselves with discernment in order to create music that invites their future students to listen. When they begin practice teaching, listening must be at the forefront in order to provide the best experiences for their students. The circle of listening starts to reach completion; we share what we’ve learned with the next generation of students.

Writing this article has reminded me how powerfully our principles and strategies blend together to create extraordinary educational opportunities. Active listening really is our superpower. It is the door that opens our minds, bodies, and spirits to our work, providing unlimited creativity, inspired experiences, and profound self-awareness. They are powers to be shared and celebrated.