We are what we hear! - This book focuses on listening and understanding music in educational and informal contexts, starting from the fact that listening is the essential basis for all other musical activities and cultural achievements. Listening is the approach to music for everyone. It is accessible for free and it opens up a world, which is as manifold as possible. To foster the ability to concentrate, to develop sensitivity for sounds, to perceive music as a structural progression, as well as to pay attention to sonic details are important aims of music education. Open ears are the prerequisite for meaningful and expressive music-making. In times of a global music horizon and lifelong learning, we are challenged to expand our awareness and to develop an empathetic state of mind: an appreciative attitude towards new auditory impressions, all kinds of musics, and cultural expressions.

European Perspectives on Music Education, Volume 6, contains an international panorama on the topic of listening and understanding music. Chapters are written by authors from Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, guaranteeing a wide spectrum of musical knowledge, viewpoints, and pedagogical approaches.