Questions to Ask While Listening to Music
These are questions to ask while listening to music with a child, a class or one other curious listener, whether the piece is a symphony movement on the classroom speakers or a pop song on the school run. They are grouped in the order a listening session tends to go: first reactions before anything has been explained, the sounds themselves (instruments, beat, loud and quiet), feelings and mental pictures, what the music might mean, how it sits beside another piece, and what to ask once it ends. Most can be answered by a five-year-old with a movement and by a teenager with a reason.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
First listen
What is the first thing you notice?
Why ask it
Put it to them as soon as the first play ends, or at a pause twenty seconds in, before you have said a word about the piece. The answer shows where this listener's ear goes without help, usually the beat, a voice or whatever is loudest, and that is the place to start your next question.
What kind of music would you call this?
Why ask it
A child's labels are their own: 'church music', 'cowboy music', 'the kind Grandpa likes'. Take the label, ask which sound earned it, and offer the usual name, jazz or folk or a march, only after they have told you what they heard.
What do you think this music was made for?
Why ask it
Any guess with a reason is a good one, whether it is dancing, marching, falling asleep, a film or a ceremony. Keep the title and the background to yourself until they have guessed, since a name like 'lullaby' answers it for them. If you do not know the real answer either, say so and look it up together afterward.
Close your eyes for a minute. What is the quietest sound you can find?
Why ask it
Shutting out the room often brings up a part nobody has mentioned yet: a low instrument, a shaker, a second voice. In a car the driver skips the instruction and the passengers report back.
Have you heard music like this somewhere before?
Why ask it
Expect a cartoon, a video game, a wedding or a grandparent's kitchen. Wherever they place it is the nearest thing they already know, and it hands you a comparison to use later: 'the game music, but slower'.
Does this sound old or new to you, and what makes you say that?
Why ask it
Children tend to judge by the instruments, so a harpsichord is 'old' and a drum machine is 'new'. Do not correct the date yet. The reason they give tells you which sound they have attached to which time, and you can come back to it after the piece.
Sounds
Which instruments can you pick out?
Why ask it
Start with whatever is easiest to hear, and let a younger child answer with a family, 'something you blow', or by miming how it is played. If nobody can name a sound, find a picture or a short clip of the instrument afterward and play the passage again.
Is this one player, a few, or a big crowd of them?
Why ask it
A solo piano, a string quartet and a full orchestra are easy to tell apart long before a child can name a single instrument. With a song, ask the same thing about the voices: one singer, a singer with backing voices, or a choir.
Is it fast, slow or somewhere in between? Can you tap the beat on your knee?
Why ask it
The tapping matters more than the word, because a child who taps steadily has found the pulse. Many will tap the rhythm of the tune instead. Tap the steady beat alongside them and let them hear the two fit together.
Show me with your hands: where does it get loud, and where does it get quiet?
Why ask it
Hands wide for loud and close together for quiet lets a whole class answer at once without making a sound. Then ask whether the change came suddenly or crept up, a difference worth noticing long before anyone learns the word crescendo.
Are the notes mostly high, mostly low, or both at once?
Why ask it
Young children often mix up high with loud, so check by having them point at the ceiling for high notes and the floor for low ones. If both are going at once, ask which one they find easier to follow.
Does the speed stay the same all the way through?
Why ask it
Pick a piece that really does speed up or slow down for this one, or the answer is a flat yes. Have them walk two fingers along the table in time and they will feel the change before they can describe it.
Can you count along? Does the beat seem to go in twos, threes or fours?
Why ask it
Best with a clear march or a waltz, where stepping 'left, right' or swaying 'ONE two three' makes the answer physical. Leave it out for music with a loose or shifting beat, where trained musicians can disagree about the count.
Do the notes sound smooth and joined together, or short and bouncy?
Why ask it
Offer the two choices with your voice, a long 'laaa' against a clipped 'la, la, la', so the child hears what you are asking. Once they can tell the two apart, legato and staccato are only names for something they already know.
Who has the tune right now?
Why ask it
In a lot of music the melody is passed around, from the singer to a guitar or from the violins to a flute. Ask twice, a minute or so apart, and see whether they catch the handover.
What is going on underneath the tune?
Why ask it
This sends the ear down to the bass, the drums or the pianist's left hand, the layer most listeners never single out. If the question draws a blank, replay ten seconds and ask them to ignore the singer.
Is there a part that keeps coming back? Put a finger up each time you hear it.
Why ask it
Counting the returns of a chorus or a main theme is the simplest way into how a piece is built. Compare totals at the end. Two different counts are a reason to listen again, not a mistake to mark.
Did the music ever stop for a moment? What did the silence do?
Why ask it
A rest before a big chord, or a pause before the last chorus, is a decision somebody made. Children tend to say it made them wait or made them jump, and either one is what the silence was put there to do.
Feel and picture
How does this music make you feel?
Why ask it
Accept one word, then ask where in the music the feeling comes from: the speed, the low notes, the singer's voice. 'Nothing' and 'bored' are real answers too and deserve the same follow-up.
What do you picture while you listen?
Why ask it
Two listeners will see a storm and a chase in the same thirty seconds, and neither is wrong. Ask what in the sound put the picture there, so the answer stays tied to the music and does not drift into a daydream.
What does your body want to do when you hear this?
Why ask it
For under-sixes this is the feelings question, and thirty seconds of marching, swaying or lying flat on the rug tells you more than any word they have. In a car, shoulders and hands only.
Has the feeling changed since the beginning?
Why ask it
Save it for a point where the piece itself turns, when the key, the speed or the instruments shift. If they say it changed, replay the join and see whether they can put a hand up at the moment it happens.
If this were playing in a movie, what would be happening on screen?
Why ask it
Most children have sat through plenty of film and cartoon music, so this borrows a skill they already have. A detailed scene, with who is there and what they are about to do, means they are hearing mood and pace together.
If this music were a color, which color would it be?
Why ask it
There is no correct shade, which is why quiet children will answer it. The follow-up does the work: ask whether the color would change in the next section, and they are describing contrast without knowing the term.
What animal would move like this music?
Why ask it
Listen for whether they match size to pitch and pace to pace: an elephant for low and slow, a mouse for high and quick. If you plan to play a piece written about animals, ask this first and compare their guess with the composer's choice.
If you drew a line to show how this goes, would it be wavy, jagged or straight?
Why ask it
Hand over paper and a crayon and let them draw while it plays, without lifting the crayon. Afterward put two drawings of the same piece side by side and ask each child to find the loud part in the other one's line.
Did anything in the music surprise you?
Why ask it
A sudden loud chord, a new instrument or an ending that arrives early all count. Ask what they were expecting instead, because a surprise means they had started predicting where the music would go.
Is there a part you do not like? What is the music doing there?
Why ask it
Dislike is a response to something specific: a screechy high note, a clashing chord, a section that goes on too long. Naming the cause is real listening, so do not hurry to defend the piece.
Meaning
What do you think the composer wanted you to feel?
Why ask it
It is a different question from how they feel themselves, and older children can hold the two apart: 'I think it is meant to be scary, but I thought it was funny.' That gap is worth a minute of talk.
If this music is telling a story, what just happened?
Why ask it
It lands at a change in the music and falls flat in the middle of a steady stretch. For a piece that was written around a story, collect their versions first and tell them the composer's afterward. Theirs is not wrong for being different.
If someone is singing, which words can you catch?
Why ask it
Two or three caught words are enough to guess the subject. If the song is in a language nobody in the room speaks, ask what the voice sounds like it is saying, and look up a translation together later.
What are the words about, and does the music match them?
Why ask it
Cheerful tunes with sad words are common, and noticing the mismatch is a step up from hearing a song as a single thing. Read the lyrics yourself before using this with a class or a young child.
What is the singer's voice telling you that the words alone would not?
Why ask it
A whisper, a shout, a crack on a high note and a held last word are all choices. Read one line aloud in a flat voice and then play the singer's version, and the difference answers the question.
If you had to give this piece a name, what would you call it?
Why ask it
This one only works while the real title is still a secret. A name squeezes the whole impression into two or three words, and setting it beside the actual title afterward gives you your next question for free.
Now that you know the real title, can you hear it in the music?
Why ask it
Play a short stretch again once the title is out. Some titles are a picture to listen for and some are only a label, like 'Sonata' or a number, so be ready to say that this one names the kind of piece and nothing more.
Why do you think that instrument was chosen for this part?
Why ask it
Try swapping it in imagination: would the tune feel the same on a tuba, or sung by a child? The answer shows whether they hear that an instrument's sound carries meaning apart from the notes it plays.
Where is the biggest moment in this piece?
Why ask it
Listeners usually point to the loudest bar, the highest note or the place where everything drops away. Go back ten seconds from the spot they chose and ask what the music did to set it up, since that build is the composer steering their attention.
Compare
How is this different from the last piece we heard?
Why ask it
Give a category if the answers stall: speed, loudness, instruments, mood. Playing the first twenty seconds of each back to back helps more than relying on anyone's memory of last week.
What do these two pieces have in common?
Why ask it
Harder than spotting differences, so save it until the differences have been said. Shared ground can be small, both have a piano or both end quietly, and still be a real observation.
Here is the same tune by different performers. What did they change?
Why ask it
Two recordings of one piece, or an original and a cover, show that the written notes are not the whole of the music. Speed and loudness are the easy catches. A change of instrument or of mood is the stronger one.
Which of these would suit breakfast and which would suit bedtime?
Why ask it
Sorting music by the hour makes children weigh energy, speed and volume all together. Change the two occasions to fit your listeners, a party and a rainy afternoon, say, and ask what would go wrong if you swapped them.
Which of the two would you choose to hear again, and why that one?
Why ask it
A preference becomes useful only with the reason attached. Push gently past 'it is better' toward something in the sound, and do not take sides yourself until everyone has answered.
Afterward
Does the ending sound finished, or as if it is waiting for something else?
Why ask it
Stop the recording a few seconds early once and ask whether it feels done. Plenty of listeners sense an unfinished phrase with no theory at all, which makes this a neat way to show that music sets up expectations.
Now that it has stopped, can you hum or tap a bit of it back?
Why ask it
Leave five seconds of quiet before you ask. Whatever comes out is the bit the piece made memorable, and it is not always the main tune: sometimes it is a bass line or a drum pattern. A shy singer can tap it, or everyone can 'la' it quietly at once.
What did you notice on the second listen that you missed the first time?
Why ask it
This is the reason to play a short piece twice in one sitting. If nothing new turned up, give the next listen a job beforehand, such as following only the lowest instrument.
Which part would you ask me to play again?
Why ask it
Find that spot and play it, because being able to steer you back there shows they have a map of the piece. With a recording, write down the minute and second so you can return to it next week.
How would you describe this piece to someone who has never heard it?
Why ask it
Describing sound to an absent person forces real words: fast, jumpy, lots of drums, a sad ending. It doubles as an entry in a listening journal, or as something to tell whoever was not in the car.
If you were the composer, what would you change?
Why ask it
Longer, shorter, faster, 'more drums' and 'a different ending' are the usual requests. Treat each as a design decision and ask what the change would do to the feeling they described earlier.
What do you want to find out about this music or the person who made it?
Why ask it
Their question, not yours, decides what you look up: when it was written, what the instrument looks like, whether the singer is still performing. Answer one and stop, so the facts stay attached to curiosity.
What should we listen to next?
Why ask it
More of the same, the opposite, or something a friend played them are all usable answers. Letting the listener choose the next piece now and then keeps the sessions from becoming your playlist with questions attached.
Running a listening session that stays about the music
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you press play
Pick something short
Two to four minutes is plenty for a child, and one movement or a single song is a whole session. For a longer work, choose an excerpt with a clear change in it, a quiet opening that turns loud or a tune that moves between instruments, so there is something to ask about.
Decide when the talking happens
For a short piece, let the first play run from start to finish with nobody speaking, you included, and ask the First listen questions the moment it ends. Questions answered with a hand, a finger or a crayon can be set before a replay and answered while the music plays. The ones that need a spoken answer wait for a pause, because talking over a piece turns it into background.
Give each listen one job
Before a replay, name one thing to follow: only the drums, only the loud and quiet, only the part that comes back. A listener with one job hears more than one told to notice everything, and it gives you a reason to play the piece a third time.
Hold back the title and the story
A name like 'The Storm', or a line about the composer's life, decides what everyone hears before they have heard it. Keep both back until the First listen group and the Feel and picture group have had their turn, then reveal them and see what changes.
How many to ask
The list is a menu for many sessions. Take one from Sounds, one from Feel and picture and one more from wherever the piece is strongest, and leave the others for another day or another recording.
Who is listening
Under six
Let the body answer. Marching, swaying, tiptoeing, hands apart for loud and a finger up for a returning tune all show what a small child hears, well before the words for it are there. Stay in the Sounds group and the Feel and picture group, and keep the piece under three minutes.
About six to ten
This is the age to hand over vocabulary, one word at a time and only after the child has described the thing in their own way. 'It got louder bit by bit' comes first. 'Musicians call that a crescendo' comes second.
Older students and adults
Ask for evidence. A teenager or a listening partner can say where in the piece a feeling started, compare two recordings and argue about what a lyric means. The Meaning and Compare groups are written with them in mind, and the minute and second on the player's counter settles most disagreements about what happened where.
A whole class
Use answers that everyone can give at once: hand signals, a finger count, a line drawn on paper, a word whispered to a neighbor. Then take two or three spoken answers. It keeps thirty children listening instead of waiting for a turn to talk.
In the car
The driver asks and keeps their eyes on the road, so skip anything that needs closed eyes, paper or a screen. Questions with a one-word answer work best while the car is moving, and the longer ones can wait for a red light or the driveway. Let a passenger handle the replay button.
What to do with what they say
Ask where they heard it
The follow-up that earns its place most often is 'which part made you say that?' It turns 'it is sad' into 'the slow bit with the cello', and it works after nearly every question about feeling or meaning.
Check the hearing answers by ear
Feelings and pictures cannot be wrong. Whether there is a trumpet, or whether the music sped up, can be checked, and the way to check is to play the passage again and listen together. Avoid simply announcing the answer.
When you get a shrug
Offer two choices and demonstrate both: fast like this, or slow like this? If that fails, narrow the stretch of music to ten seconds and ask again. A blank usually means the question covered too much of the piece at once.
Say what you heard, last
Give your own answer after theirs, and make it a real one, including the parts you could not work out. A child who hears an adult say 'I am not sure if that is an oboe or a clarinet' learns that listening is something you keep doing.
Keep a one-line record
A notebook with the title, the date, three words and perhaps a drawing takes two minutes. After a dozen pieces it is what makes the Compare questions possible, because 'the last piece' is written down instead of half remembered.
Ways the listening gets lost
Too many stops
Pausing every twenty seconds breaks a piece into samples. If the session has become stop and start, play the whole thing through once more at the end with no questions at all, so the last thing anyone hears is the music.
Fishing for the right feeling
If you expect 'sad' and get 'sleepy', the child is not mistaken. Slow, quiet music reads differently to different people, and pressing for the adult's word teaches guessing instead of listening.
Terms before ears
Tempo, dynamics, pitch and timbre are handy labels for things already noticed. Introduced first, they turn the session into a vocabulary test that a child can pass without hearing anything.
Only the music you like
A diet of one style gives the Compare questions nothing to work on. Mix in a march, a lullaby, a film theme, music from a tradition that is new to you both and a song the child chose, and accept that some of it will be disliked.
Songs with words
Lyrics pull attention away from everything else, so ask a Sounds question before the words come up. Listen all the way through any song you do not know before playing it for children, since a radio edit and the album version can differ.