Article August 24, 1974 Issue

Are You a Good Listener?

MARGARET M. N. HIGSON

In my work as a music teacher at school I find it necessary to remind the children frequently of the most important element in music making. "The first rule in music," I tell them, "is—listen! And the second rule is—listen!" I never need to tell them what the third rule is!

A child learning to play an instrument will not make much progress until he begins to listen critically to the sounds he is producing. In singing together it is the listening activity that enables each individual to contribute the right quality and quantity of tone, blend his voice with the others, and thus feel himself part of the harmony.

Listening both to oneself and to others is important, in music and in daily living, but there is another kind of listening even more important. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes that in music, as in many other academic subjects, "thought passes naturally from effect back to cause." The complete passage reads: "Whatever furnishes the semblance of an idea governed by its Principle, furnishes food for thought. Through astronomy, natural history, chemistry, music, mathematics, thought passes naturally from effect back to cause."^{Science and Health, p. 195;}