Listening Maps are graphical representations of musical pieces.  Listening maps enable students with even minimal musical skills to listen to a musical composition with much greater concentration than with no visual aid at all.  Listening maps can help students to understand form and structure; melodic structure; and texture (harmony is somewhat problematic).

Listening maps usually come in two flavors - note-for-note representation (where each note has a graphical equivalent); and motivic representation (where each melody or structural component of a piece is represented by a single image).

Following are several examples:

Note:  For best effect, get a recording of the sample pieces and listen to them while following the map (sorry, I couldn't put MP3s of the pieces on the site - too many copyright difficulties).  Please note that the elapsed times indicated on the samples (intended to help non-music teachers understand where they are in the piece) may not be compatible with your recording - these maps were written with specific recordings in mind.

Listening map sample 1 - Jacques Ibert's "Divertissements" for orchestra, 2nd movement (only the first page is shown).  Created for the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra as part of their orchestral outreach program.  A mixture of note-for-note and motivic representation.

Listening map sample 2 - Gyorgy Ligeti's "Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet", 2nd movement.  Created for Sullivan County (NY) BOCES "E Pluribus Unum - From Many Voices, one Music" program.  Motivic representation.

Listening map sample 3 - Gyorgy Ligeti's "Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet", 3rd movement.  Created for Sullivan County (NY) BOCES "E Pluribus Unum - From Many Voices, one Music" program.  Note for note (more or less) representation, emphasizing the "shape" of the melody.