Declining Attention Spans and Their Impact on the Classical Music Community
by Inman Hébert
The cell phone pervades our existence. Our society has become so accustomed to rampant screen addiction that the sight of students with noses buried in devices while strolling on campus or attending classes seems ordinary. This phenomenon extends to classical music concerts, where audience members pay for live performances of celebrated masterworks yet doomscroll during concerts. While anecdotal, these firsthand observations represent a broader trend of declining attention spans with potentially worrisome implications for our future as classical musicians.
In a 2020 Nature article, “Memory failure predicted by attention lapsing and media multitasking,” researchers found a significant correlation between media multitasking and attention lapses. Moreover, this distractibility predicts working memory failure and negatively affects long-term memory. These declines in cognitive function inhibit our ability to focus on one task, problem-solve, read, and communicate, essential tasks for daily functionality. This research fits into a broader literature linking media use to cognitive decline.
For our classical music community, can orchestras attract audiences to listen to hour-long traditional symphonies and two-hour concerts when habituated to seek new stimuli after 45 seconds? The traditional classical repertoire runs counter to the short-form content that dominates the modern media landscape because it requires time, sustained focus, and commitment to enjoy. As demographics shift to consumers with embedded media-usage habits, will orchestras continue to adapt to a changing landscape and remain viable without losing their core mission? Can orchestras continue to unite, enrich, educate, inspire, and engage?
While conductors, marketing directors, and development staff seek solutions to captivate audiences, as students, we must look inward. How will the broader societal trend impact our development as musicians? From the back of a musicology classroom, students scroll social media on their laptops as the professor analyzes Tchaikovsky. We have access to more information but endless distractions.
We must reframe how our media habits shape our musical journeys. While we cannot control external factors, we do have agency in our decisions. What if more of us made daily, conscious choices about screen time and chose to be present in our environment? Subtle changes can help us maximize our study and rate of improvement. What if we took more time to be silent with our thoughts? We can easily forget that boredom sparks innovation and creativity. The intentionality to eliminate distractions can help us aspire to understand how and why we play. We must first connect with ourselves and the music before we can hope to play in a manner that resonates with our audience.
