The Opposite of Left and Wrong

There are supportive examples for both side of the argument of whether or not it is constructive to analyze music rather than to simply listen and enjoy it.  Some say that you can only enjoy the music if you sit back and listen without tearing it apart into a million tiny pieces.  Others state that if you want to truly appreciate and understand the song, then you have to break it down, whether it is by scale, chord note, tempo, or other factors.  While both analyzing and listening can be a positive event, I feel that there is a certain amount of compromise that needs to be present.

While there are some songs that can simply make you want to get up and dance, or put you in a specific mental state (which is sometimes unintentional), many songs for me need to really be examined in order to really become appreciated.  But that’s not saying that we need to rip it down to a series of pitches and notes that were produced at one point in time.  Instead of trying to figure out what chords the guitarist is using, or what specific scale, we can use our ears to tell the major (happy sounding) scales from the minor (sadder sounding) scales, and that is something that almost everyone can pick up on.  It may not be the level of analyses that professors desire, but it gets the job done.  Even as a musician there are some songs that I do not want to play note for note, maybe just by singing the lyrics over a different scale (let’s say change the D minor scale to an A major) I can completely change the feeling behind a song.  At that point, the song can take you to a new romantic high of finding that true love instead of moping about the one that got away.  And it can also work in the other direction as well.

But then there are the songs that just need to be taken as a whole and left alone- “Hotel California” by the Eagles for instance.  Yes, there are seven or eight guitars on that track (depends on who you ask, really) but if you were to take out just one of these, then you would lose the whole feeling and vibe that is associated with the song.  Or even as Quindlen stated in paragraph 6, “…rock-and-roll is a lot like sex: If you talk seriously about it, it takes a lot of the feeling away- and feeling is the point.”  This can be held true for any kind of music- rap, country, jazz, swing, metal, the list goes on and on.  We all have those songs that we know and love that put the special twinkle in our eyes, or the flutter in our heartbeat.  If we were to analyze these down to the note, then that special feeling associated with them would be lost forever, and that would truly be a tragedy.

If a song has grown on you over time- didn’t do much for you in the beginning but slowly gave you specific memories, then I say go for the analysis; break it down and see what it is about that song that makes you feel the way you do.  But if it has been the song that has made you tear-up from the first time you heard it, or made you smile and shake your groove thing, leave it alone, just take it as one of your personal little moment and let it stay that way.

Don't Go Changin'

The idea of musical tastes and preferences changing over time is not a far-fetched one.  Now, the idea of having the same taste in music and never veering is a little on the unbelievable side.  Personally I have gone through several different stages of tastes in musical styles and genres over the years.  Yet I have always come back to my preferences for the hard and heavy.

The beginning of my collection all started with rebelling against the slow and soft country music that my mom listened to on constant repeat.  After I found the greatest way to rebel (rock and roll) I started to build my collection and set my style.  As time went on, my style progressed more and more towards heavier and harder music.  My CDs went from Blink 182 and MxPx to Metallica and Pantera.  In a way I was always looking for harder and faster music because, as a guitarist, it presented something to strive for; to play this riff cleaner and faster, to come up with a different solo for that song, which was my real goal.

Throughout the years I made new friends, moved to new cities, found new bands to follow.  I wouldn’t say that my musical tastes have changed due to finding new friends, more like my influences have expanded and so has my library.  The best way to find new music or a different genre that you may not realize you like is by word of mouth.  Having friends that are in the local music scenes for Los Angeles, Lancaster, and Bakersfield, I am lucky enough to have access to all the up and coming groups from these locations.  I love learning of new bands and listening to everything I can in order to get a feel for where these scenes are going.

For a few years, my library was only hard rock, but then as I met new people and began to start new friendships and relationships, my eyes were reopened to other styles of music.  Now I can get excited about the new Senses Fail album (all-time favorite band), and look forward to a new release by The Zac Brown Band (new country favorite), or wait impatiently for another great album by Jack Johnson (I’m a sucker for acoustic music).  And although there may not be any new releases by classical composers, finding new writers to look into is always a great adventure.

Although my musical library my not have really changed over the years, it has become more rounded in a sense that I am open to listen to just about anything at least once, because just like you, I never know what I will stumble upon that will move me.  Let’s keep the doors open to anything and everything new and see where this musical journey takes us.  You never know what great hidden treasure you might find as you rifle through your friends iTunes library or digging around in the clearance bin at the local music store (not Wal-Mart or Best Buy).

Twenty-Four Years of Music

Hey All:

This is my first blog so just kind of bear with me, here we go!

Music as a whole has had a huge influence in my life, but just about anyone can say that.  I realize that there are very few people that can say they do not enjoy any kind of music, but for the most part, we as a society do enjoy listening to it.  Sadly though, music has really lost its focus that it once demanded.  Gone are the days of the family sitting around the radio to listen to the newest single by Johnny Cash or Buddy Holly, now it is almost as if music has taken a backseat to the rest of the world.  Almost like a white noise for our everyday tasks.  Not for me though.   Ask any of my coworkers, if a song comes on the radio that I enjoy, I will almost stop paying attention to my current job and sing along with the song, play the air guitar to feel the passion that the artist had when he or she wrote that lick.  I will admit that I use music as background sound while driving or working on tasks that need to be completed, the very first thing that I do when I buy a new CD (no P2P file-sharing or Torrents here, they steal the music that I will gladly pay to support), is pop it into the CD player when I get home, that way I can really listen and hear the intricacies of the song; the way the note sustains, how the bass follows a mellow line, the amount of attack on the snare drum, these are all there for a reason. 

I wouldn’t really say that music has changed me over time, more like I have changed and my musical tastes have followed.  When I was young, I would listen to country (that was my mom’s choice, which was the only option), so I knew songs by Reba, Tim McGraw, Brooks & Dunn, and Garth Brooks.  But then as I got older and started watching MTV, I found a new style of music, Punk Rock.  Now I know this may stir up some trouble about who I list as punk, but here it goes: Bad Religion, Black Flag, Pennywise, The Clash (Punk culture, not necessarily sound), Sex Pistols, Face To Face, etc.  The punk rock scene was mine home in Jr. High and High School.  Then, towards the end on my senior year, I discovered metal, oh was that a fun time for my mom- coming home to see her sweet, innocent boy listening to Metallica, Pantera, and Iron Maiden.  This was not what she expected.  But in my defense, I was not listening for the hateful lyrics that had infected the metal scene; I was listening for the speed, the passion, the agility of the musicians that wrote these songs.

I like to think that I am very well rounded when it comes to my musical tastes, I can get pumped up by August Burns Red blasting through the car stereo on my way to band practice, or I can relax at the beach with The Zac Brown Band playing low on the background, or write a blog about the music in my life with Andy McKee just dancing around on the guitar, painting a picture with the sounds.  I am hoping that with the focus on music that will endure this class I can learn even more about new artists, or about my current favorites.  I cannot wait to see what this course has in store for me.