How do you "hear" music?

[Snow Dog]

I love the question, and with the breadth and complexity of the topic at hand, I'm not sure I can adequately answer it after quickly being two beers in for the night, but I'll play along anyway.

First off, I'd have to say that vocals are likely most important to me and my listening enjoyment.  If I can't stand the voice, there's no way that I'm suffering through it.

Aside from that, what I enjoy out of the music I listen to also has a lot to do with what type of music I'm listening to.  With metal, I'm a sucker for a really good riff.  Classic rock, it's more about hooks, melodies, and vibe.  For more mellow stuff, what kind of atmosphere does it create?  With progressive music, I tend to really enjoy seeing how smoothly a band can change time and key signatures without it feeling herky jerky (a good part of Dream Theater's music is an exception, mostly in their earlier career as later on, it felt forced and contrived); its epic pieces are higher on the Like-O-Meter by how many moods they can create and still feel like a cohesive experience.  And if I'm listening to Rush, then I just analyze the shit out of everything. 

I do like to try to figure out simple odd time signatures and see how they flow into each other, ie Subdivisions.  I also can appreciate a unique chord progression.  I likely won't be able to identify it without a guitar in hand and fumbling about until I figure it out, but my ear can still sense a feeling of novelty to it before even digging into it.

There's more to it, likely, but that's all I can come up with right now.  It's been a long three days here in southern Oregon and my brain is fried.

[Cool Chris]

It's interesting to me that we can all hear the same song and yet notice completely different things.  The "skip beat" (for lack of a better term) is Master of Puppets being the most basic example.   It was honestly one of the first things I noticed when I first heard it in March of 1986, and just assumed that everyone noticed, because it's a pretty simple example of a basic time change shift.   To even think that someone could listen to the riff of the song and not notice that part just blows my mind. 

It might also help to consider not everyone knows what they are hearing. I have no idea what you are talking about in Master of Puppets. I don't know what a 'skip beat' is. So while I may have heard it, I wouldn't notice it, or think anything beyond "hey, that sounded pretty cool there..." I could watch Clayton Kershaw throw a pitch and think "whoa, wicked slider" and my wife would see the same pitch and think "he threw the ball hard" because she would not know a slider in baseball from the kind of slider you eat. 

[jammindude]

It's interesting to me that we can all hear the same song and yet notice completely different things.  The "skip beat" (for lack of a better term) is Master of Puppets being the most basic example.   It was honestly one of the first things I noticed when I first heard it in March of 1986, and just assumed that everyone noticed, because it's a pretty simple example of a basic time change shift.   To even think that someone could listen to the riff of the song and not notice that part just blows my mind. 

It might also help to consider not everyone knows what they are hearing. I have no idea what you are talking about in Master of Puppets. I don't know what a 'skip beat' is. So while I may have heard it, I wouldn't notice it, or think anything beyond "hey, that sounded pretty cool there..." I could watch Clayton Kershaw throw a pitch and think "whoa, wicked slider" and my wife would see the same pitch and think "he threw the ball hard" because she would not know a slider in baseball from the kind of slider you eat.

 Someone addressed it earlier in the thread. But while it might not be exact, basically, the entire main riff shifts between 8/8 and 7/8 time.

I guess it’s not quite that exact when it’s put under a metronome...but for most people, if you were to count out the time on the main riff, it would be 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7,  1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7....etc...etc

[Elite]

The thing with Master of Puppets specifically is.. they don't exactly skip a beat; it's a small rhythmic deficiency and you could probably even call it 'sloppy' in the sense that upon close analysis, they're actually not doing the same thing everytime. It's quite fascinating.

[Lowdz]

The sound of distorted guitars did it for me - riffs and leads.

As a child I loved ABBA, but when I heard hard rock with those guitars, that's what got me.

[Stadler]

The thing with Master of Puppets specifically is.. they don't exactly skip a beat; it's a small rhythmic deficiency and you could probably even call it 'sloppy' in the sense that upon close analysis, they're actually not doing the same thing everytime. It's quite fascinating.

Yeah; I'm listening to it now, and while I kind of know how to count (but I'm not very good at it), I don't quite hear that as a skipped beat.   

[New World Rushman]

I guess I am more of a bigger picture listener. I hear the hooks, the melody, the riffs, and how it all comes together. I hear the song as a whole.
Although I do understand music theory and time signatures, I don't notice odd sigs right away.

Here's an analogy; if I eat a cookie, I taste the cookie. Not the flour, butter, eggs, and sugar individually, even though I know they're in there.
Then again, I do hear the individual instruments, I know there is guitar, bass, drums, keys, and voice. If those are analogous to the basic ingredients of the cookie, then maybe the time signatures are the chocolate chips?

[Podaar]

I think I saw Beato say that in MoP rhythm is actually beyond analysis. They were just playing what sounded good to them.

I believe this is the part y'all are talking about.

[Stadler]

I think I saw Beato say that in MoP rhythm is actually beyond analysis. They were just playing what sounded good to them.

I believe this is the part y'all are talking about.

Beato is like potato chips.  Can't have just one.

[hefdaddy42]

I think I saw Beato say that in MoP rhythm is actually beyond analysis. They were just playing what sounded good to them.

I believe this is the part y'all are talking about.

Beato is like potato chips.  Can't have just one.

Aint' that the truth.

Just caught his new one on Miles Davis.  Fantastic stuff.

[Lowdz]

I guess I am more of a bigger picture listener. I hear the hooks, the melody, the riffs, and how it all comes together. I hear the song as a whole.
Although I do understand music theory and time signatures, I don't notice odd sigs right away.

Here's an analogy; if I eat a cookie, I taste the cookie. Not the flour, butter, eggs, and sugar individually, even though I know they're in there.
Then again, I do hear the individual instruments, I know there is guitar, bass, drums, keys, and voice. If those are analogous to the basic ingredients of the cookie, then maybe the time signatures are the chocolate chips?

With that, I often hear the music incorrectly. When the pieces are taken apart, they don't sound how I think they do. It's a bit weird, like it takes on alife of it's own independent of what's actually there. I'll try and learn a riff and it doesn't actually go how I hear it.

[pg1067]

Actually, the conversation that has been had after I said that is exactly the type of thing I was hoping to spark.   It's interesting to me that we can all hear the same song and yet notice completely different things.  The "skip beat" (for lack of a better term) is Master of Puppets being the most basic example.   It was honestly one of the first things I noticed when I first heard it in March of 1986, and just assumed that everyone noticed, because it's a pretty simple example of a basic time change shift.   To even think that someone could listen to the riff of the song and not notice that part just blows my mind. 

I think just about everyone notices it, but they don't think of it in terms of time signature.  Give this video a quick watch/listen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRBmavn6Wk0&t=22s .  I think his explanation at the end sums it up pretty well.

It's funny because when I was growing up, there used to be a music teaching tool that I believe was done by Disney.   They did an animated version of Peter and the Wolf...but there was also a record where a narrator took you through all the instruments that were being used and how each instrument represented a character in the story.    Then it would take you one by one through what each one of those instruments sounded like, then it would put them all together for you with the instruction to focus on what each one was doing and how they were interacting with one another.

That's ANY recording of Peter and the Wolf.  Peter and the Wolf was composed by Sergei Prokofiev (who composed any number of things you might be familiar with, including Scythian Suite, which was featured in Metallica's S&M2) on commission by the director of the Moscow Central Children's theater for the purpose of introducing children to the various instruments of the orchestra.  If you have any interest in classical/orchestral music, Prokofiev (as well as his contemporaries, Modest Mussorgsky and Igor Stravinsky) is highly recommended.

Someone addressed it earlier in the thread. But while it might not be exact, basically, the entire main riff shifts between 8/8 and 7/8 time.

It's not 7/8.  It's somewhere between 5/8 and 6/8.  Sorry, I have to be "that guy."  :-)

I think I saw Beato say that in MoP rhythm is actually beyond analysis. They were just playing what sounded good to them.

I believe this is the part y'all are talking about.

Beato is like potato chips.  Can't have just one.

I can't watch him at work or I get nothing done.

[Samsara]

Did anyone even read what I wrote at all?

I did. Great stuff. I don't even notice the rhythm, nor do I count off. For me, I notice the guitar riff, and then the vocal and vocal melody.

I do notice the rhythm, but I have to admit, the bass and drums are the last thing I really take notice of, unless they really are highlighted in a song.

[Max Kuehnau]

Actually, the conversation that has been had after I said that is exactly the type of thing I was hoping to spark.   It's interesting to me that we can all hear the same song and yet notice completely different things.  The "skip beat" (for lack of a better term) is Master of Puppets being the most basic example.   It was honestly one of the first things I noticed when I first heard it in March of 1986, and just assumed that everyone noticed, because it's a pretty simple example of a basic time change shift.   To even think that someone could listen to the riff of the song and not notice that part just blows my mind. 

I think just about everyone notices it, but they don't think of it in terms of time signature.  Give this video a quick watch/listen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRBmavn6Wk0&t=22s .  I think his explanation at the end sums it up pretty well.

It's funny because when I was growing up, there used to be a music teaching tool that I believe was done by Disney.   They did an animated version of Peter and the Wolf...but there was also a record where a narrator took you through all the instruments that were being used and how each instrument represented a character in the story.    Then it would take you one by one through what each one of those instruments sounded like, then it would put them all together for you with the instruction to focus on what each one was doing and how they were interacting with one another.

That's ANY recording of Peter and the Wolf.  Peter and the Wolf was composed by Sergei Prokofiev (who composed any number of things you might be familiar with, including Scythian Suite, which was featured in Metallica's S&M2) on commission by the director of the Moscow Central Children's theater for the purpose of introducing children to the various instruments of the orchestra.  If you have any interest in classical/orchestral music, Prokofiev (as well as his contemporaries, Modest Mussorgsky and Igor Stravinsky) is highly recommended.

Someone addressed it earlier in the thread. But while it might not be exact, basically, the entire main riff shifts between 8/8 and 7/8 time.

It's not 7/8.  It's somewhere between 5/8 and 6/8.  Sorry, I have to be "that guy."  :-)

I think I saw Beato say that in MoP rhythm is actually beyond analysis. They were just playing what sounded good to them.

I believe this is the part y'all are talking about.

Beato is like potato chips.  Can't have just one.

I can't watch him at work or I get nothing done.

Stravinsky is one of the GOATs IMHO (he wrote pieces with time signatures that are almost constantly changing way before The Dance Of Eternity came out. (in 1913) The Rite Of Spring is my favourite orchestral piece of all time and a proper banger.) Frank Zappa was really cool in that respect too (and otherwise)