Listening is at least half of playing

…a quote from Laurie Anderson’s Norton Lecture No. 1

This echos something Pat Metheny said in an interview I read recently about listening being the most important part of playing music.

Listening is important in life. You need to listen to understand. Sitting an listening is an important zen concept. It is important in art. Listening to your inner thoughts/feelings. Being motivated by music and sounds. New sounds are new experiences.

These are, basically, half formed thoughts while I’m trying to figure out where I’m going with this.