ABSTRACT
Listening is a basic life communication skill and an especially important musical skill. We are born listeners, as long as our auditory development isn't compromised during time in the uterus. The auditory system is the first sense to develop in the human fetus (Deliège and Sloboda 1996). Skill in listening permeates all music activities; it is difficult to think of a musical activity that does not have a listening component. Listening includes various experiences, ranging from identifying a single musical aspect such as a trumpet or a clarinet timbre, to determining a composer, period, and style as well as analyzing a composition's musical characteristics.
