Concentration

Sure if you’re riding a unicycle juggling hatchets you’re not going to be concentrating on the music but under the different strokes for different folks (maybe not the best analogy or maybe the very best) analogy it’s possible absorption for many can happen at vastly different thresholds. 

It’s the music itself that given individual predilections that will/will not entwine. For example Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 is complex and not my cup of tea so my concentration doesn’t engage. “Dirty Water “by The Standells has me singing along but something like the Keith Jarrett Trio has me drawn in in a blissful way. When the music is felt that’s the ticket. 

This quality discussion is trying to put into the vernacular what’s magical in the brain about transformational music. 
 
Some how this comes to mind  from Wordy Rappinghood by Tom Tom Club

“Words that write the book I like
Words won't find a right solution
To the planet Earth's pollution
Say the right word, make a million
Words are like a certain person
Who can't say what they mean
Don't mean what they say

Hi kye yay, yippie yi kye yay
Awoo awoo ayee kie chi'
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words“

@hilde45 

what do you think of my observation of the difference between classical music listening and other types of music regarding this dichotomy?

@immatthewj 

Good!!!

It's been a good day if I made you laugh! 😃

@wsrrsw nice pull on Tom Tom Club. 

Also, I really had to train myself to stop listening to my system. To stop see if there's any deficiencies or something's off or if the balance is off or if maybe this tube is hissing or whatever. For a while that just wrecked listening for me. I was concentrating so much on the system that I forgot about the music much of the time

@rvpiano lets say you’re in a Carnegie Hall or in a Lincoln Center. You’re listening to your favorite symphony. What do you concentrate on? How do you perceive and comprehend music? What do you listen to - sounds, music, performance or all of it at once?
I can tell you that when I’m at a live performance listening to an orchestra I pay attention to sounds just as much as I pay attention to music and performance. Same at home. The only factor is that the recorded music relies on your quality of your equipment and room acoustics. And your system will either do sounds well or convey emotions or in cases of exceptional synergy it will do all of the above. It also depends on your mood and mindset.