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).
As musicians, I feel as though we view music differently. We are flexible in tastes and, as you said, "keep the doors open to anything and everything new". I completely agree! It's funny that you said, "I am open to listen to just about anything at least once." My last blog was titled "I'll Listen to Anything At Least Once!" I'm not saying that those who do not play an instrument are not flexible listeners, because I'm sure there are many who will listen to anything and yet they don't play an instrument. However, I wonder if because we enjoy playing and getting creative that it opens our tastes up to listen to anyone else showing their creativity as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your outlook on "finding new writers to look into is always a great adventure." There's something intriguing about listening to an unfamiliar artist.
It’s interesting to hear about your story and how they changed over the years. I liked how you started to talk about the “rebelling against the slow and soft country music” that your mom listened to. I personally thought country music wasn’t too bad, it’s just I never found anyone around me who liked it. Apparently, it was some sort of taboo to like it at school. Haha, regardless, you like the Zac Brown Band? Those guys are my favorite country band- I’ve been listening to them for a while. Haven’t really looked into country until I heard these guys, they’re great!
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting to hear that your taste in music hadn’t changed no matter where you were. I was like fresh water poured into the ocean; I scattered all over the place to find something I liked and latched onto it. Knowing what you like from the start is an important factor that many individuals have trouble with; it’s a gift to be able to acknowledge one’s personal tastes instantly. Otherwise, you’ll end up searching constantly like me. Though I’m not much of a pianist, I think your outlook as a musician is interesting. I hope one day I could learn to play by ear and such. Let’s both work hard on becoming a better musician!
Wow I must say that I am impressed that you have been able to keep around the same type of music. I think I get bored really fast and I end up changing everything. I can never stay in the same place for long and can’t seem to keep the same genre for long either. But I agree I love just listening to all kinds and seeing what’s good and what’s not. Because you never know when you’re going to run across some amazing new band or artist and if you stick to just one type of genre then you lose the ability of having a large option. I also was in the rebellion stage where I wanted to listen to the exact thing that my parents didn’t like because I was so tired of what they were listening to, and having to listen to it for hours on end in the car on trips since it’s what they liked. After a few years though I find it funny because I ended up listening to a lot of the same people my mom now listens to. I truly did enjoy reading your blog. It was funny when you talked about going through friends iTunes because I do that all the time to find new songs and bands.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid I used to hate country as well. I used to carpool to elementary school with this family that would seriously blast country music in their car. It was like torture to me. I couldn't understand why either! My neighbors used to blast classic rock when they worked on cars and I loved that. It's cool that you mentioned that you like some country now, and that wanting to rebel against it didn’t ruin it for life. I actually like some country and I am always open to listening to the country radio stations for a minute before I completely pass them up. Even the break up songs will eventually lose the bad feelings around them and you will hopefully laugh about them. Life is always changing.
ReplyDelete