Your take on Music?

[DanH]

What do you listen to Music for?....I mean other then then saying I listen to Rock because it's what I grew up with,...Why do you like it is it it's beats,...Does it make you think,..Possibly work through problems...What is it about music and the types you listen to that you like?

[Sanagi]

I don't think I can answer that without going into music theory geek mode, so bear with me here...

Rhythm is a big part of it. The few rap songs I like are the ones that have interesting rhythm, as opposed to just "blah-de-blah-de-blah-de-blah-de-blah blah." Latin rhythms are great, especially samba, a particular favorite of mine. I think I could hear, play, and write sambas all day, it's just such a fun and often quite beautiful rhythm. Odd time signatures are a particular interest of mine, and compound time(where each beat divides into three parts) is always cool. 12/8 is the coolest time signature. (those of you with iTunes, look up Alan Lightner's "Nai Nai" to hear an example of 12/8.)

But I'm also a real geek for interesting harmonic effects. There's few things more satisfying to me than an elegant modulation. In both harmony and melody, I like the dorian and mixolydian modes a lot as alternatives to the much more typical major and minor keys.

Novelty is a big factor. I'm not much interested in rock music these days unless there's some extra spice to it.

Hmm... Also, my favorite instruments are piano and steel drums. (Going to iTunes again, look up "When Last We Spoke" for a great example of what steel drums sound like.)

[Punchy]

Music is attached to my being. I've thought about this a lot and that's the best way I can sum it up.

Being a musician, it is a means for me to communicate and express. It adds emotional dimension to anything I may be doing (driving, partying, crying, laughing). Music is the way I earn a living so I listen to it as research and analysis.

I could go on and on

[Alex]

That's one of the most difficult questions ever!
I listen to music because i like music, i like music because i have a soul.

[cactusmaac]

I listen to metal for the energy and drive, classical for the grandeur and epic scope and rock for the emotion and craftmanship involved.

[Ilash]

Music is such a huge, important part of my life that this question becomes damned near impossible to answer. I'm not even a musician as I can't play an instrument, can't sing and have certainly never written a song. And yet, music is still an essential part of my life. I guess that first and foremost, I listen to music for the emotional effect it has on me. It doesn't matter what emotion - be it anger, sadness, happiness or whatever - there's always some kind of music that's the perfect fit for the way I'm feeling. My main passion musically is for rock and roll of the mid sixties to the mid-seventies (and I use that term to include rock, pop and rythm and blues) because not only does the music from this era elicit the greatest and most diverse emotional reactions from me (Two words: Pete Townshend), it also fulfills my second main criteria: music has got to be interesting. For me, the things that interests me most about music are: a) the basic melody, b) the way the lyrics fit the music, c) the way the different instruments and vocals interact and d) the way the various parts of a song become something greater setting a specific mood or feeling. To illustrate this let me just bring an example for each of these.

a) The obvious one but take any good Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson song for this. eg. God Only Knows or Here There and Everywhere.

b) It's not just the lyrics that are important but how they relate to the music. eg. the irony of setting the sadistic words of the Beatles' Maxwell's Silver Hammer to a jaunty, "granny" tune.

c) Simple example: The Rolling Stones' Monkey Man. I LOVE the brilliant interaction between the beautiful piano, Keith's gritty riff and Mick's self-depracating vocals.

d) The Beatles again with Hey Jude. A feeling of optimism and upliftment comes about through the build up in the arrangements with each successive verse, uplifting lyrics and beautiful melody.

There's also the other obvious stuff like listenability or catchiness but these are the main points.

[Grant]

I like music.

[Noir_Dark]

I could go on endlessly and try to explain what I like about every piece of music that I like. (Lyrics, musicianship, originality…)
But there are also unexplainable, intangible qualities to music that have yet to have ‘words’ designated to them.
These qualities are what keep me interested in life.

In my drunker, higher moments I theories that these qualities are the product of the musicians souls communicating with the souls of the listeners. And this quality also allows listener soul to communicate with the souls of other listeners who “get” the particular music being played.

[Night]

Music is the transission of emotion.

I choose different music for different moods.

[Ilash]

I could go on endlessly and try to explain what I like about every piece of music that I like. (Lyrics, musicianship, originality…)
But there are also unexplainable, intangible qualities to music that have yet to have ‘words’ designated to them.
These qualities are what keep me interested in life.


Yeah, you know, that's just a much better answer than the one I gave. I'm with you totally.

[Sanagi]

I could go on endlessly and try to explain what I like about every piece of music that I like. (Lyrics, musicianship, originality…)
But there are also unexplainable, intangible qualities to music that have yet to have ‘words’ designated to them.

Speaking as a music theory geek, there's a good chance that the things you're thinking of have been explained and do in fact have words designated to them. Which doesn't make them any less amazing, of course.

[Reptisaurus!]

Speaking as a music theory geek, there's a good chance that the things you're thinking of have been explained and do in fact have words designated to them.

Like "Awesomosity."

Ok, yeah, but music theory would be WAY better if I was in charge.

[Sanagi]

Like "Awesomosity."

Ok, yeah, but music theory would be WAY better if I was in charge.
Good terminology is important. I was so disappointed to find out that "power chords" are just stripped down versions of the normal chords(because heavy distortion of an electric guitar makes normal chords sound dissonant). A cool term like that should have been saved for a more interesting kind of chord.