I'm paying attention to the bass myself

Oh man, I really can't answer that. First of all, I don't have a favorite band (at all) so it depends entirely on the band and the song. I'm a singer myself, so obviously I pay a lot of attention to that, but I was also the primary music arranger in my a cappella group, so I automatically break down music I hear into parts.

It tends to be whatever stands out the most to me in a song. For example, in the Foo Fighters song Pretender, the bass line stands out to me the most. Basically I tend to first hear the ear markers I would use for an a cappella arrangement. Often it's the bass, because getting that down sets up an excellent base (no pun intended) for an arrangement, often it's a hook or recognizable riff (again, harkening back to arranging - if you get the signature riff or hook down and you get the bass down, you can sort of play with the other parts) or if the most recognizable part is the guitar pattern, I'll hear that first. Ill even do drums, since for one year I did a lot of vocal percussion for songs that needed it.

Short story long (sorry) I basically tend to listen to every song as if it's an a cappella song and sing whichever part pops out at me or, if the vocal line is cool, I go for that.

I think if you play an instrument played in said band, you are likely initially paying attention to that instrument. I play guitar, so that's what I always snap to. After that I tend to fan out and put it all together until my mind is one big mesh of awesome music.

depends on the song. almost completely.

I read this as "You just turned on your favorite band" and thought the poll options would be like murdering them, burning their cds, or something like that.

All of it really, I deconstruct it into parts in my heads.

That said, mostly guitars and bass.

All of it, but least of all the vocals. I like to pay attention to how bass and guitar interact. But most of all I pay attention to drums, even though I am a guitarist myself.

This poll is biased, it assumes the music has vocals and guitar.

Drum and bass, dubstep are what I loooove

agreed, I'm a bass player and when i listen to groups, like the beatles for instance, thats what i'm paying attention to is the instrument I favor



biased poll has Other for a reason. (real bands have instruments, not drum machines >.>)

In most rock music, the vocals and guitar are the dominating sounds. Some groups have stunning drum work, like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Rush.

I usually am listening to James Hetfield's rhythm guitar. Absolutely flawless technique.

After that I usually am listening to the drums, specifically where the kicks are

Totally this.

And I don't pay attention to just the one thing, I take it as a whole

Listening to Queen - and mainly listening to Brian.

That's the more sinister way of mis-reading the title, I'll grant you.

Anyway, I'd have to go for a toss-up between vocals and guitar. I'm mostly listening to the lyrics but if we're talking about my favourite band then I have to spend time admiring Mark Knopfler's playing.

That said, it would depend on the particular song I'm listening to. I'm a sucker for saxophone.

If I've got the radio on, I normally don't pay too much attention to the vocals unless it's a song I know. I really don't pick out anything in particular, I've been a musician for years and take it in as a whole.

Normally I only pay attention to the vocals if it's on my computer since I can remove songs I don't like from my playlist.

My favorite band is Dave Matthews, and I would be doing them a disservice to say I focus on only one part of their songs.

Vocals and drums, probably. I only really notice certain kinds of guitar riffs.