--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You probably think of the orchestra as a…" description: "\"You probably think of the orchestra as a heterogeneous mass of instruments producing a confused agreeable mass of sound. You do not listen for details ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/arnold-bennett-3325_confused_you-probably-think-of-the-orchestra-as-a_1413987.png" --- # You probably think of the orchestra as a heterogeneous… ![“You probably think of the orchestra as a heterogeneous mass of instruments producing a confused agreeable mass of sound. You do not listen for details because you have never trained your ears to listen to details.” quote by Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/arnold-bennett-3325_confused_you-probably-think-of-the-orchestra-as-a_1413987.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/arnold-bennett-3325_confused_you-probably-think-of-the-orchestra-as-a_1413987.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f31/arnold-bennett-3325_confused_you-probably-think-of-the-orchestra-as-a_1413987.png) > “You probably think of the orchestra as a heterogeneous mass of instruments producing a confused agreeable mass of sound. You do not listen for details because you have never trained your ears to listen to details.” [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Listening without attention causes us to miss nuance, reducing complex sounds to a vague, pleasant background. **In simple terms:** Missing details makes music sound just a pleasant blur. Key Takeaway Train ears to hear specifics. Themes attention music perception Mood reflective analytical Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - concerts - classical recordings - audio engineering - music education Key Concepts active listening musical detail Questions to Reflect On - How does focused listening change your appreciation of music? - What details do you usually overlook? A Different Perspective Even with focus, personal bias can color what is heard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Orchestra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orchestra/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [It's a small city where I have a lot of time to think. The orchestra and I have had a chance to connect very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-dudamel/it-s-a-small-city-where-i-have-a-lot-of-time-to-think-the-orchestra/) [Gustavo Dudamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-dudamel/) > [I think this orchestra's strengths involve drama and voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-levine/i-think-this-orchestra-s-strengths-involve-drama-and-voice/) [James Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-levine/) > [I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/i-tried-to-discover-in-the-rumor-of-forests-and-waves-words-that/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [... God gave you just one mouth but He gave you two ears, so you should listen twice as much as you speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-vujicic/god-gave-you-just-one-mouth-but-he-gave-you-two-ears-so-you-should/) [Nick Vujicic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-vujicic/) > [When you hear voices from your past, do not close your ears, listen to them, but don't stop, keep walking to the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-hear-voices-from-your-past-do-not-close-your-ears-listen-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [If you want to play something that you hear, you need to listen with your mind's eye. You've heard of the mind's eye, right?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-vai/if-you-want-to-play-something-that-you-hear-you-need-to-listen-with/) [Steve Vai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-vai/) > [When we bend our knees to pray, the lord bend his ears to listen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usman-ismaheel/when-we-bend-our-knees-to-pray-the-lord-bend-his-ears-to-listen/) [Usman Ismaheel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usman-ismaheel/) > [We hear from our ears but we listen with our heart. Listening is an intentional act of kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/we-hear-from-our-ears-but-we-listen-with-our-heart-listening-is-an/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“Don't just listen with your two ears only. Listen attentively. Listen with every fiber of your being!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assegid-habtewold/don-t-just-listen-with-your-two-ears-only-listen-attentively-listen/) [Assegid Habtewold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assegid-habtewold/) > [“Listening is hard work. Listen carefully not only with your ears, but also listen with all of your senses. You will understand better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/listening-is-hard-work-listen-carefully-not-only-with-your-ears-but/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [“There is a great difference between hearing and listening. When you hear, words just pass through your ears. When you listen, the words touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srinivart/there-is-a-great-difference-between-hearing-and-listening-when-you/) [Srinivart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/srinivart/) > [“Beloved, my ears listen for you, my lips thirst for you, my eyes search for you, and darkness brings light, but light brings truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-atbay-epiphany-a-collection-of-poems-2/beloved-my-ears-listen-for-you-my-lips-thirst-for-you-my-eyes-search/) V.S. Atbay - Epiphany A Collection of Poems > [I love listening to music and I can't walk without headphones in my ears. I listen to it while eating, walking, in the loo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherry-forever/i-love-listening-to-music-and-i-can-t-walk-without-headphones-in-my/) Cherry Forever > [“GOD GIVES US TWO EARS TO LISTEN MORE AND ONE TONGUE TO SPEAK LESS.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usman-hyder/god-gives-us-two-ears-to-listen-more-and-one-tongue-to-speak-less/) [USMAN HYDER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usman-hyder/) > [The language of gardening fuels the senses: talk with your hands, observe with your ears and listen with your eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/costa-georgiadis/the-language-of-gardening-fuels-the-senses-talk-with-your-hands/) [Costa Georgiadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/costa-georgiadis/) ## More by Arnold Bennett > [The chances are that you have already come to believe that happiness is unattainable. But men have attained it. And they have attained it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-chances-are-that-you-have-already-come-to-believe-that-happiness/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Good taste is better than bad taste, but bad taste is better than no taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/good-taste-is-better-than-bad-taste-but-bad-taste-is-better-than-no/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [The parents exist to teach the child, but also they must learn what the child has to teach them; and the child has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-parents-exist-to-teach-the-child-but-also-they-must-learn-what/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-gain-in-self-confidence-of-having-accomplished-a-tiresome-labour/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [A man of sixty has spent twenty years in bed and over three years in eating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/a-man-of-sixty-has-spent-twenty-years-in-bed-and-over-three-years-in/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [“What then? 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If you are a creative and creating artist, you cannot ignore it, though it can ignore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-public-is-a-great-actuality-like-war-if-you-are-a-creative-and/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [“Good clothes, when put to the test, survive a change in fortune, as a Roman arch survives the luxury of departed empire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/good-clothes-when-put-to-the-test-survive-a-change-in-fortune-as-a/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Ninety percent of the friction of daily life is caused by tone of voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/ninety-percent-of-the-friction-of-daily-life-is-caused-by-tone-of/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [During a long and varied career as a bachelor, I have noticed that marriage is the death of politeness between a man and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/during-a-long-and-varied-career-as-a-bachelor-i-have-noticed-that/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) [Explore all 133 Arnold Bennett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) ## More Confused quotes > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [I was a very protected and confused kid till 24. It was after then, that I started taking my life seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddharth-shukla/i-was-a-very-protected-and-confused-kid-till-24-it-was-after-then/) [Siddharth Shukla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddharth-shukla/) > [I can picture certain things in my mind, while writing the script, but then I can also tell that everyone else might be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-zombie/i-can-picture-certain-things-in-my-mind-while-writing-the-script-but/) [Rob Zombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-zombie/) > [America today is a confused society, caught up in a terror war, a culture war, and a media war, where honesty and professional standards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/america-today-is-a-confused-society-caught-up-in-a-terror-war-a/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [Well I'm trying to think what I put in... I think I put in 'why?' to see if I'd confuse the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/well-i-m-trying-to-think-what-i-put-in-i-think-i-put-in-why-to-see-if/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [What a wonderfully exciting cough,' said the little man, quite startled by it, 'do you mind if I join you?' And with that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/what-a-wonderfully-exciting-cough-said-the-little-man-quite-startled/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I am still searching for the expression of those confused sensations that we bring with us at birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/i-am-still-searching-for-the-expression-of-those-confused-sensations/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [If I look confused it is because I am thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/if-i-look-confused-it-is-because-i-am-thinking/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [I believe that much of Hollywood is confused about Israel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pellegrino/i-believe-that-much-of-hollywood-is-confused-about-israel/) [Mark Pellegrino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-pellegrino/) > [My senior thesis was a documentary. 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