The Minstrel's Gallery

Most music reaches us while we’re doing something else. This working turns that around. You put on one piece, sit down, and do nothing but listen, the way people once climbed to the gallery to hear the players.

The working

1. Choose a piece without words: classical, orchestral, ambient or any instrumental music you like. Gentle music works better than loud.
2. Sit comfortably, close your eyes and press play. Don’t read, scroll or tidy while it plays. Just listen.
3. For the first few minutes, take in the whole sound at once, letting it come and go like the sounds in The Listening Tower.
4. Then pick one instrument, a flute, a cello, a single drum, and follow only that one. When it goes quiet, wait for it to return.
5. If your mind wanders off into memories or plans, come back to your chosen instrument at the next note.
6. When the piece ends, stay with the silence after it for a few breaths.

Closing

If you like, play the same piece again another day and follow a different instrument. It will sound like a new piece.