A method of operating a wellbore using a plurality of acoustic emission transducers. The method comprises deploying acoustic emission transducers in association with at least one of a member of a drill string, a bottomhole assembly, and a drill bit coupled to the drill string in a wellbore. The acoustic emission transducers are coupled to a controller comprising a processor and memory. The processor is programmed to determine one or more of a frequency of the acoustic emissions, an amplitude of the acoustic emissions, an energy of the acoustic emissions, a duration of the acoustic emissions, a rise time of the acoustic emissions, and a frequency centroid of the acoustic emissions. The method includes measuring acoustic emissions generated by acoustic events originating within the wellbore with the acoustic emission transducers. Downhole acoustic systems for monitoring drilling operations of a wellbore are also disclosed.