Comments on: Do You Listen to Classical Music?

By: D

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:49:08 +0000

I discovered classical music accidentally. I was studying for the bar exam two months ago and I was searching for some study music. I stumbled upon Mozart and listened to a few of his pieces. To my utter surprise, I found I really enjoyed the music. I had a hard time studying because I was getting so engrossed in his pieces! Thus began my search for more classical pieces and their composers. When I heard Beethoven and Chopin for the first time, I was flabbergasted. Then I heard Dvorak 9th symphony which was esquisiite. Where had this music been my whole life?! (So far I’ve only really been introduced to Baroque, Romantic and one modern – Adiago for Strings).

I tried to go back to regular pop music but it just didn’t do it for me. The emotions were too simple. The lyrics meaningless (to me atleast). Furthermore, no longer was I switching between songs every minute, but rather I could enjoy a 10 minute symphony and enjoy every second. It has become impossible to listen to anything else.

I really wish I discovered classical music earlier. For the first time I felt a real passion towards music.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:51:05 +0000

I do listen to classical music, and I do play a few instruments, principally the flute. I play free jazz, and latin music, but also classical music, though I’m primarily an improvisor. I like Bach, Handel, and other baroque composers, as well as the music of composers from other times. Debussy and Ravel, for example, and Takamitzu.

I think people don’t like classical music because too big a deal is made of understanding it. Just listen, and don’t worry about “getting it”. It’s music, and it will do the kinds of things for you music does. I had a high school band director who was not usually right about things, but he rightly used to call “music appreciation” classes “music depreciation”. You need not play an instrument to like classical music. I think you’ll get into it and “get it” (if there is such a thing) if you listen and get interested, the same as you do with other kinds of music. You’ll likely find out about composers, orchestras, and performers the same as you are interested in bands, performers, etc.

It’s a cool, very varied, endlessly interesting world, and as you get into it, you may just find that it will give you more awareness of the other music you like.

PS.: I love a good pedal steel guitar solo, too.

By: HP

HP — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:14:48 +0000

Ken: Mahler and Wagner? Seems like you went all the way to the other end of the spectrum in terms of accessibility I’d tend to agree that “pop” tends to be much simpler in almost every way, especially in intellectual content, but it has its place. Every once in a great while I’ll listen to something on the radio when I’m driving, if only to keep my eyes open.

And on a structural note, Rondo form is alive and well in the popular music world.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:54:17 +0000

I used to do the lights for rock bands.
A couple of years of the same material night after night will teach you that popular music is really just a bunch of nursery rhymes for grown-ups. Curiously, the more infantile (“accessible”) the music, the more popular the song.

This realization was a grave disappointment at the time, and I spent years trying to find music that didn’t get shallower every time I listened to it.
These days I listen to an NPR classical station in the car. At home and on the iPod it’s Mahler, Wagner and some jazz.

By: HP

HP — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:38:08 +0000

@lex- I think there’s definitely a point where a piece crosses a popularity threshold after which people stop valuing a piece for its musical qualities and more “because it’s popular.” Or more commonly, bad or at least less significant music becomes popular (I’m looking at you, 1812 Overture!) and then people look deeper, deem something not as “exciting” and then get a bad taste in their mouths. As far as “rocking out”- there’s plenty of dramatic music in the repertoire… Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique, 4th mvmt, Shostakovich 5th Symphony, 4th movmt, Stravinsky’s Firebird finale.

@vicki- the time issue is a negative for a lot of people. Pop/rock songs tend to be around 3 or 4 minutes long, while movements of classical works (depending on whether or not its a symphony, concerto, or whatever) tend to be longer. If people don’t know what to listen for, the things that make a piece interesting can go right over one’s head. Certainly happens to me enough…

@Tovah- I feel the same way about “what would happen if I stuck with it” if I had not quiet piano lessons when I was 7 or 8.

@Andrew- hopefully my entries will give you an idea of where to start. I’m in the process of putting together a list “for beginners,” the majority of which I would hope to write about in the near future. In fact, I should try to get that up pretty soon…

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:18:11 +0000

i enjoy classical music but i don’t know very much about it. understanding music isn’t really my forte but whenever i hear it i think to myself ‘i must get more of this stuff’. my music taste is diverse so its difficult for me to say that its a priority among other styles, but i’m definitely interested. i can’t say why this is, i’m very open-minded and like to try different things, there hasn’t been any particular stimulus to give me interest, i don’t play any instruments and i don’t know anyone who is particularly knowledgeable in this area. in short, i’m someone who knows and has listened to very little classical music, but really yearns to listen to more. i don’t really know where to start either. i guess it was good i stumbled unto this blog =]

By: Tovah

Tovah — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:08:56 +0000

I do listen to it, and enjoy it, though I’m not well versed in anything not already well-known (which is only due to laziness and lack of knowledge on my part, rather than a lack of desire to expand my horizons). I’m not sure I understand it completely, but then I’m not sure I completely understand any music. It makes me feel good, and that’s good enough for me. I’ve never played an instrument (unless you count the flute in grade nine music class, which I took to avoid grade nine art class, because I sucked less at flute-playing than I did at drawing) though I’ve often wondered, if I’d stuck with it, or with any other instrument, where I’d be today. Incidentally, if I picked an instrument to take up now, it’d be either bass guitar or violin.

By: Vicki@collegeparentcentral

Vicki@collegeparentcentral — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:46:43 +0000

I enjoy listening to classical music, but don’t take time to listen to enough of it. I find that, most of the time, I end up stopping what I am doing to pay attention to the music. If I’m really trying to concentrate on something then it often gets in the way.

I think you enjoy listening to what you know. People just aren’t exposed to enough classical music these days to get to know it so that they can appreciate it. It does take a bit of effort to get to know this type of music well.

By: lex

lex — Sun, 03 May 2009 07:01:03 +0000

I normally just get the response “I just don’t like it.” As far as anyone who says it’s not catchy enough needs to watch Rob Paravonian’s Pachelbel’s Canon in D Rant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM
Most people who say it’s boring or not catchy will find themselves with a classical “riff”, if you will, in their head. Also, I guess any successful musician who has studied any classical music is weird. Recently, I’ve only listened to classical music in the car, or off of my son’s baby Einstein toys/cds. I guess if I don’t go out of the way to listen to it, it is because I feel like I was overloaded studying it in school. Not to mention I took these studies to extremes and listened to every record/cassette I could get my hands on. It’s calming, but sometimes rocking out mellows me out just as well. Also, I play guitar. In addition, there are modern composers(although some would hesitate to classify Marilyn Manson as one, he is). I think that great composers were the rockstars of their time. I think people enjoy classical music more than they realize. If you had Apocalyptica releasing Ride of the Valkyries, it would be a huge hit. Closed mindedness has a lot to do with it, and sometimes just a matter of taste. This was too long. Sorry.

By: HP

HP — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:40:01 +0000

@Somethingsin: I think a lot of people are partial to music that features an instrument they play. I tend to notice a lot of percussion nuances in various pieces, and I’d imagine that other musicians do the same for their instrument.

@Bill: I have a hard time listening to classical if I’m programming; I think it’s because I wind up thinking about the music too much

By: Bill Williams

Bill Williams — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:04:14 +0000

I’ve tried to get into classic music before. It’d seem very complementary to programming. But, I’ve only got a few pieces, and nowhere near enough to make it through a coding session. Going from classical to just about anything else is pretty jarring, so I just don’t listen.

Right now, I’m much more inclined to go with American folk music, esp. “newgrass” and related. But definitely not “country” music – ugh.

By: Somethingsin

Somethingsin — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:19:09 +0000

I enjoy classical music occasionally, but usually only pieces I know/have played/sung, otherwise I often have difficulty following the music. Of course, some composers are harder to follow than others. Choral music tends to be the worst, since I can never hear what they’re singing, even if I do understand the language.
I’ve heard many a piece where it took me half the piece to figure out it was in english.
I do however love singin in a choir, which I do on a regular basis. I also used to play the violin, and I tend to enjoy violin music more than other classical music.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:57:59 +0000

i find classical music very relaxing when im trying to work. other genres distract me and i can’t consintrate on my work! (ps, my “work” is graphic design)

By: Osten

Osten — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:27:46 +0000

Sounds good. I’m with you that one. Maybe “Scores” work too?

By: HP

HP — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:31:05 +0000

Well, some things certainly fit the “song” moniker. It’s actually kind of an ambiguous term now that I think about it. My first thought was to classify a “song” as something where voice is the most prominently featured part, but that doesn’t really work for something like the German Requiem. I dont know, I consider the “song” designation to be a little oversimplified I guess. Usually I refer to “songs” as “pieces” or “works.”