Are you making the most of music?
Most people love music and the emotions it can evoke. Whether you get teary-eyed listening to Elvis love songs or feel energetic after a round of Scandinavian heavy metal, the effects of the songs you love can be incredible!
But if you feel you’re not getting to experience music as well as you could be, it might be time to change up how you listen to it.
To find out more, take a look at our top 7 seven tips that will make your music experience a whole lot better.
1. Always Listen More Than Once
If you want to expand your music and really make the most of what’s on offer, always listen to a track more than once. Your first impression of a song isn’t always right. In fact, people tend to feel more negative about new experiences at first, but when the experience is repeated, you warm to them.
This is known as the mere-exposure effect, and it’s a very interesting phenomenon! Your brain likes to know what’s going on and what’s going to happen next – it’s a bit of a control freak like that – and it’s looking for a pattern to follow. On the first listen, it can’t make as much sense of the music, but on the second go, you might find yourself warming to it.
If at first, the music doesn’t succeed, try again!
2. Listen to the Lyrics
When it comes to ways to listen to music, everyone’s different. One major factor that separates people’s listening habits is whether or not they listen to the lyrics in songs. If you don’t, you’re definitely not alone!
But listening to the lyrics can help you to connect with a song a lot better emotionally. Sometimes an album can tell a story throughout the lyrics of its songs, too, which can add a lot of interest. You can also use tools like Genius to look at the deeper meanings behind song lyrics, making it almost like analyzing poetry.
For example, take a look at this analysis of Bohemian Rhapsody, which also has a lot of background to the song, which is very interesting to read!
3. Listen to All the Artist’s Work
If you’re looking for how to enjoy music more, a good idea is to listen to an artist’s entire body of work, rather than just a couple of songs here and there. By absorbing yourself with their work, you can get a deeper understanding of their songs and enjoy them much more!
This doesn’t mean you have to listen to every single song by an artist but listen to the entire album. The artist will have chosen the songs on it carefully, right down to the order they’re in, so to do it justice, you should immerse yourself in the whole thing.
4. Learn an Instrument
Did you know that learning an instrument could enhance your experience of music? Knowing how to play an instrument could change how you listen to music, and you start to understand the intricacies of how it’s put together.
It might also be easier for you to listen to the separate parts of a song and appreciate the different levels it’s made up of. For example, if you learn to play bass guitar, you’ll find it easier to pick it out in songs automatically. When you start doing that, you’ll start hearing other aspects, and the song will suddenly have a lot more depth!
5. Try Meditation
Meditation might help you to enjoy music much more! You’ve probably heard of the many benefits that meditation can have, but this is definitely one of the lesser-known.
But a study from a University professor showed that just 15 minutes of meditation made their students more engaged with a segment of opera. They reported that it helped them to focus and get in the zone of the music, which could be exactly what you need.
6. Invest in Good Equipment
If you’re looking to enhance your music experience, you need the right equipment, and you need to keep it in good condition! A popular choice at the moment are records, so learn how to use a record player and see what you think. Some people think the music quality is better whilst others enjoy handling the vinyl and placing it on the player.
If you opt for this, make sure you also learn how to clean a record player. It’s also a good idea to use a record cleaning machine to keep your records working and sounding their best.
7. Explore Related Music
If you want to expand your music, it’s a good idea to look for music related to what you’re already listening to. This will give you a much better chance of finding artists you enjoy and songs that resonate with you!
There are a few ways you can explore related music, such as asking staff in a music store to recommend new albums based on what you’re already listening to. You could also use Spotify, which is great for recommending you new artists, songs, and playlists to listen to based on what you already are.
Experience Music Properly
Everyone has a different way that they experience music and expand their library of favorite albums and artists, so be sure to try different methods to see which works for you! But remember to always listen to your tunes on good quality equipment for the best experience.
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