“Listen. Can you hear the note hang in the air as the next note is played?”

Squinted eyes. Frowning face.

“Listen again. It’s as if I’m connecting the notes as a complete thought – a sentence. One note joins the next to produce a new meaning. Do you hear it?”

“Cool!”

“Wasn’t that beautiful?”

Smiling nod.

“That’s legato … a complete thought … a complete moment.”

It took several attempts, but my 9-year-old student learned how to listen a little deeper for the connections between the notes in a legato phrase.

Deep listening connects thoughts and emotions to understand the moment's meaning and beauty. Click To Tweet Read more