I have a friend, Jonathan, who is over 90% deaf. What’s funny is that he, more than most, has taught me about listening.

Because he lip-reads, Jonathan constantly checks for understanding: “You said XYZ?” I’ve seldom left a conversation with him feeling unheard. His attentiveness is refreshing.

Listening like that changes how we engage with the world—including music. Too often, we judge a piece of music in mere seconds, asking only if it immediately moves us as we expect. But what if we listened with greater openness? What if we treated music like a conversation—engaging, absorbing, discovering?

The marimba player Evelyn Glennie, also deaf, once said her aim in life is to teach people how to really listen. That’s the challenge.

So musicians: Will you let the world around you quickly pass you by? Or will you choose to truly listen?