Assessing Music Listening

Abstract

Music listening is defined as a multifaceted process through which individuals become actively involved in making sense of the sounds, feelings, and associations that are part of the listening experience. This sense-making involves complex mental processes resulting in unique musical experiences created by individual listeners. Listening is a way of doing music. While each listening encounter is highly personalized and covert, various components can be shared through verbal, visual, gestural transductions and these provide a basis for assessing music listening. It is suggested that the emphasis in assessment of music listening be on the degree to which the listener successfully engages in the process of sense-making, rather than being limited to the sounds the listener hears. Examples of assessment strategies are provided.