Aural Literacy
Originally published in the Australian Education Times, September 2015, by Anne Shaw
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History, Culture and Sound - The didgeridoo is a wonderful way to introduce a discussion on Aural Literacy. Click the video to the left to enjoy ten hours of didgeridoo music!
Humans have used materials from nature to create instruments for millennia. These instruments have been used to communicate, celebrate, worship, entertain and inspire. Create an historical or cultural timeline through the study of sound. Conduct a geographical study to create a world map based upon the study of sound. Think about African drumming, the India sitar, the ancient Egyptian harp . . . here is a sample of ancient Egyptian music. |
Aural – relating to the ear or sense of hearing.
Aural Literacy refers to critical listening skills and the analysis of sounds and their impact on our emotions and our actions. This includes creating messages using sound, and incorporating sound into the design of products.
In the July column we explored ways to develop Visual Literacy. This month we will be exploring Aural Literacy. Aural literacy is connected to visual, information, social/emotional and media literacies. Because this literacy involves “sound” we have created a special page online which you will want to access to make this article more meaningful – you need to be able to actually listen!
Why is Aural Literacy an important 21st century skill or literacy? Messages, or “texts”, in the 21st century are now created in multiple forms of media, many of which are created and received via sound. Everywhere we go we are literally bombarded with messages from people trying to get our attention – from family and friends who want to communicate something to us, to politicians trying to persuade us to vote for them, to advertisers who want us to purchase their products and services. We need to develop Aural Literacy skills so that we can be better at understanding the messages, to improve communication, and to be able to analyze and critique these messages.
But that’s not all – we must become more skilled at producing messages using sound. Having moved on from a world in which messages are mostly based in print, we now have an enormous range of tools at our disposal. We, too, can create more powerful, accurate and appealing messages by incorporating sound. As a student you can now create products which demonstrate your understanding of everything from basic content and skills to important social issues. You can now easily create messages for the purposes of informing, persuading and entertaining. Why write a paper/pencil research report when you can create a short film, documentary or a musical piece communicating the same information? Why create a paper poster when you can create an interactive, digital poster which not only integrates video, music, and sound effects, but your own voice?
As a student you are also specifically targeted by advertisers in an effort to get you to purchase their products and services. They no longer just use colors and images to encourage consumers to buy their products; they use sounds and music to affect consumers' emotions and actions.
Aural literacy is not just related to music and sound effects, however; it encompasses a wide range of skills of interpreting what you hear - this includes critical analysis and evaluation of television, radio and Internet commercials – not just the music, but what words are being spoken, listening to a teacher or a classmate, or walking around a bustling city, interpreting what you are hearing, and deciding what is relevant and what is not.
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The sounds of Halloween - this holiday is not complete without some scary music and sound effects. Listen to this video for a sampling of what you can find online free. Do a Google search for free Halloween sounds effects and you'll find plenty including evil laughs, witches cackling, chains rattling, screams and more!
You can also find those that are appropriate for young children - not scary, just fun! These are great to play for trick-or-treaters coming to your door or at your Halloween party! |
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Sounds of Nature
Just "Google" sounds of nature and you will find videos such as this one, called Woodland Ambiance. You will also find sounds for birds singing, rainforest waterfalls, ocean waves, creeks trickling and thunderstorms. These are excellent to have playing while you are relaxing, sleeping, reading, studying or creating. |
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Good Vibrations - the Science of Sound
This video is from the World Science Festival. We look around us - constantly. But how often do we "listen around us"? Sound is critically important to our bodies and brains,and to the wider natural world. In the womb, we hear before we see. In this presentation the artists take us on a fascinating journey through the nature of sound. How we perceive it, how it acts upon us and how it profoundly affects our well-being - including a demonstration of sounds as varied as the human inner ear and the creation of the universe itself. |
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Sounds in Film and Television
Click the video to the left to listen to an instrument known as the theremin. The images are from the 1951 film, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Think about the sounds effects and music in the movies and television shows you watch. How do they create an impact on the viewer? Do they add to or subtract from the story or the message? |
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Create an Old-time Radio Show
Before we had television people listened to their favorite shows on the radio! It would be a lot of fun to plan, then create and present your own radio show. You will have to think about music and creating various sound effects! The shows were not like most radio shows today - mostly music, news and discussions. They were all kinds of shows like those that later broadcast on television - westerns, or cowboy shows, murder mysteries, love stories, comedies. You can still listen to many of the most popular radio shows, such as this one, entitled The Shadow, a murder mystery. |
The video above is a short film which illustrated just how the old-time radio shows were produced. You will see a little boy sitting on his bed listening to the radio. The television scenes illustrate what the boy would have been seeing, or imagining, as he listened to the program.
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Critical Listening Skills
You've heard that you cannot believe everything you find on the Internet. So, too, you must listen critically to what is being said - listening critically to speeches made by politicians, to news reports, to spoken opinion pieces online, on television and on the radio. Practice analyzing what is being said in a speech, much as you would a television commercial. Remember the article on Media Literacy? What is the speaker's goal? To educate, to motivate, to persuade or to entertain? |
See this link for specific questions to ask yourself when analyzing a speech. These will guide you through analyzing the purpose of the speech, it's content and structure, the delivery techniques employed (voice, gestures, etc.) visual effects, use of the stage and use of the invocation of emotions. Use the questions to analyze this speech by Adolph Hitler. Use them when evaluating candidates during the next federal election on or before January 14, 2017 in Australia and November 8, 2016 in the United States.
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How do you feel? The emotional impact of music and other sounds!
For example, with your class at school, or just with a group of friends, listen to a variety of sounds such as those below. Then talk about how each made you feel: |
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Tell Me Your Story! Oral Histories Begin your production of an oral history by interviewing family members - parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents! |
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Spend Money and Buy Their Product!
This video is one of the top all-time favorite songs from a commercial for Coca-Cola. This video was originally aired on television in 1971 - they created a reunion 20 years later with these same singers, and included their children and grandchildren! Watch and listen to the top 18 commercial jingles of all time. How many do you recognize? |
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Compose a Musical Score or become a musician! You can frequently identify the composer of the music for a film. Each composer has a signature style. John Williams, for example, wrote the musical scores for many popular movies including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Lincoln and many, many more! You do not have to be a John Williams or a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (who began composing at the age of five ears old) to develop your talent and love of music through composes or learning to play musical instruments! |
You will no doubt recognize the music of Mozart as being featured in many films still today - over 300 years since his death in 1791.
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Doodling your way to being a better listener!
If you want to find a way to better understand and remember what you hear in a lecture or a video - try doodling! The research is in! Become a Doodler! Hmmmmmm . . . I wonder if you could create a jingle about that - Become a Doodler! See these: The Power of the Doodle: Improve Your Focus and Memory The Power of Doodling - the Brolik Blog |
