Listening to music incorrectly
 

Hello

I am new to these forums but I have a question following a little explanation.

Sometimes when I hear a song that begins with an anacrusis (pickup bar or note) I hear the first note and count it as 1 and I continue to hear the music incorrectly until, say, a rock beat comes in and the music kind of falls into place in my head. Is there a name for this phenomenon?

I imagine it should happen to people other than me. I mean, how does the brain know when to count 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and if it starts on an "and"?

Let go Luke.

You're over thinking all of it. Your brain and the rest of your body instinctively know where beats fall. Sit and listen to some music, don't think about it, and you'll know what I'm saying here.

There's no correct or incorrect way to listen to music because our brains are wired differently and we all interpret music differently. If that's the way you naturally enjoy music then there's nothing incorrect about that, perhaps you can focus on things that I can't and notice things that I can't. But if you are deliberately trying to focus hard on every little detail in the music then perhaps you need to let go a little bit and just take it all in.

Funny question is funny.

Maybe I'm having trouble explaining the phenomenon I'm talking about. There is a song I was listening to which begins with a pickup note, and I instinctively count that as the 1 (the downbeat) in a bar. After about 15 seconds or so, there is a drum fill and then everything falls into place and I start hearing the song the way it was meant to be heard. The riff is the same as at the beginning, but I start hearing it right. But even knowing this I still hear it wrong at the beginning of the song. So to me the intro sounds kind of stupid, but it sounds great once it falls into place.

I don't think I am overthinking it--maybe I am underthinking it.

This probably happens to other people (hopefully I'm not the only one), but they might not notice it. But some must notice it out there somewhere.

Is there a reason you feel the need to over-analyse music?

I don't think I am over-analyzing music, but I appreciate your reply.

I am passively listening to the music. Our brains naturally count rhythms even if we don't consciously count them. And I have discovered that I am listening to it wrong.

It is a similar feeling to when you listen to a song in an odd time signature you are not familiar with. Your brain expects it to be in 4/4 or 6/8 or something easy, but instead a bar is longer or shorter than what you might expect. I found it helped for me to determine the time signature and count it. And then eventually I didn't consciously count it anymore, and I got to listen to it without over-analyzing it.

I think my problem deserves some analysis.

I know what you're trying to say. It happens to me with certain songs. It just comes from expectations or (lack thereof). I'd say familiarizing yourself with the material is the only way to avoid it.

It wasn't meant to be offensive or anything. Just wondering why you're struggling with music methodically.