Category: Jam Session
Are we as people sometimes afraid to step out of our musical styles? Considering I hang out with mostly musicians, I've developed a rather broad spectrum of musical tastes which I try and expand even as time passes. Now, I'm not saying we all must hang out with musicians (in fact, sometimes it's better to have musically-clueless friends) so you don't get told that this is too redundant, or this key just sucks for this song!
What I'm trying to ask is, if we like Rock, are we afraid to step into the world of Electronica or Trance? If we like Jazz Fusion are we afraid to step into the relm of bluegrass? How come we as people sometimes are so afraid to look outside of the box?
Okay, it sounded better in my head, but it's just some stuff to chew on. I in no way, think that everyone is tied to one musical style, but I've just noticed things as I've watched the topics upon this particular forum.
Cort I know what you're saying. and there are times I've done this and it's amazing and there are others that I've thought no I just couldn't deal with that. I also have a good deal of friends who are musicians, and even music teachers, and I've found over time that you often become more receptive to something different when it's someone you know performing it. It's often a way of getting you to try more famous artists doing that same different genre.
Over the past year and a half while at school, I've been exposed to a plethora of 20th century music--played on Marimba specifically. I can say I've gone from complete disregard and non-caring to loving the sound that instrument can make, and that type of music.
For me, my fondness came from hearing the stuff repeatedly. I'm not sure if people are so much afraid of new genres as much as a lack of exposure, coupled with personal preference. After all, in the end, our ears either like something or they don't.
Unfortunetly, especially in the US, music is not appreciated as much as a cultural and social focal point. And things like mtv and top fourty commercial radio tend to push very certain styles for the young kids to buy. Unfortunetly, quality is not the issue most of the time. It makes me sad to look through someone's collection and see one style of music from perhaps a five year period. And I hate hearing the old "If it's from before my time, then it's not cool." rubbish. That is total immature crap. Of course, going through a BA Music program and being a music conservitory member didn't hurt in broadening my musical horizons. i just wish more people would give some music that is off the beaten path a chance. Just because it's not on the billboard charts or just because it hasn't sold a million copies doesn't mean it's not worthy of a listen!
I agree. I think I was lucky when I was very very young to be exposed to a variety of music, just because Mom liked to play records on the stereo while she did the housewife thing, and my dad also was into music. Yeah, I heard the top 40 of the time, which was late Sixties/early Seventies, but I was also exposed to jazz and easy listening and a bit of country and a little folk and a little classical and whatnot. When I was in school, I just never got into a lot of the stuff most of the other kids were into. Since most of my free time was spent alone at home, I was able to just tune around on the radio for anything unusual. I always liked many things that were unusual. So I've always ahd this ear for good and I mean really good music and really quirky music as well. Shows like Dr. Demento exposed me to music that came way way before my time and I appreciate some of that. I think it was about 1991 or so when not only techno got popular but also the grunge sound that I really departed from taking any interest in anything current and concentrated on exploring my own interests, like jazz and prog rock, which are pretty much stuck in the past, and I'm happy with that.
hehe, and that was about the same time (early '90s) real hip hop music died and commercial crap took over...
I'm not afraid of experimenting with different musical genres. I grew up on a wide variety of music, anything from The Supremes to Oscar Peterson to Tracy Chapman to Vanilla Ice to Journey to Mozart and Bach and... yeah, you get the idea. Even though my mainstay of listening is melodic metal, I play acoustic guitar and sound very folk rockish and I go to open mic nights and listen to the various musicians there. I too hate those musicians who are overly critical and get right down to the notation of things. My problem is I'm too open and never know what to download or listen to, so then I close myself off in one particular mood or genre for a time and stick with what I know until someone else goes hey, check this out!