noticing musical intimacy?

Hello! I want to share some thoughts on the difference between active and passive listening and how the concept of musical intimacy can be heard or felt no matter ‘how’ you are listening. One thing that has been going through my mind lately revolves around the concept of musical intimacy and how it not only permeates music, but how it reaches us when we are listening to music. When we are listening actively to music, we are listening with intent, and we are involved in the musical journey as it plays out in real time. How many of us listen to music in an active manner every day? I’ll bet it’s most of us. If there are aspects of musical intimacy in the music, we are open and ready to absorb the ideas since we are engrossed in the sonic experience. When we are listening to music passively, it often accompanies another task: housework, driving, anything mundane that could use a little aural spice! This week, I was in the car and I wasn’t intending to listen actively, as I was thinking about something else entirely unrelated to the music. A track came on that featured an incredibly emotive vocal, and my brain instantly shifted gears from a passive listening mode to one that was more active precisely because of the musically intimate nature of the vocal in the song. Musical intimacy can run very deep in the music we listen to as it enhances our daily experience. Has something similar ever happened to you? Have you been inadvertently drawn in to a song when you weren’t expecting it? If so, let me know in the comments.