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Thursday, June 23, 2022

Learning to Listen Well


The keys to getting better at hearing people with humility, love and hope.

By David Bennett

Recently I had the opportunity to attend an open rehearsal with the Oregon Symphony. Now I love to listen to classical music, and because I am from a family of musicians, my ear has been trained to hear the different instruments and melodies and rhythms.

But what amazed me during the rehearsal was the things the conductor could hear, which I did not. He stopped the orchestra again and again, to correct subtleties and nuances that I had missed. In many areas we need to be trained to listen.

Then over the weekend I read that two MIT neuroscientists have discovered that singing evokes a unique response in the human brain. They identified a previously undiscovered group of neurons in the auditory cortex that respond specifically to songs—not to speech, or other sounds, not even instrumental music. Just singing.

We are hardwired by God to listen—in some surprisingly specific ways. And we can be trained to listen better. But we also need the desire to listen. Read More


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