There is a difference between hearing something and knowing that one is hearing it. Yesterday in rehearsal my violinist partner began by saying he did not hear what I have been describing to him, namely the overtone mix shared by both instruments, piano and violin.
Then, in the course of the rehearsal, he demonstrated, entirely involuntarily, that he does indeed hear what I am referring to. An entire Beethoven movement sprang to new life out of precisely that kind of hearing.
In other words, there is a difference between hearing something and knowing that one is hearing it.
Sometimes saying that you don't get it is an indication that you are open to the awareness of whatever it is.
It reminds me of the frequent response I would get to questions the answer to which was a pitch: The child would sing, on the pitch that was the answer, the words "I don't know." I wish I had kept track of how often that happened!
