Tagged: music appreciation

I Love Sharing My Favorite Music

One of the greatest little things in life that – in my opinion – is very often overlooked is the aspect of sharing my love of music with others. Coming from someone who has a respectable appreciation for music, my musical journey has seen many ups and downs. Is it hard to believe that I actually did not listen to any music before 5th grade? I didn’t even know the classics, the pop artists that were then dominating the radio – Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, etc.

So when I look back and see how far I’ve come from that parochial little girl, taking note of my currently large collection of music, I’m very proud. The best moment, however, is when I share new music with my friends, and having them legitimately come to appreciate the song.

Knowing someone very well and becoming so familiar with their taste in music pays off when you can suggest a song that pertains to their style, yet suggesting one that they’ve never heard before. When someone genuinely enjoys a song, it means that you have hit the spot. It makes you feel as though you could be a professional music suggester, their new medium for finding new songs.

This seemingly insignificant little event encourages you to take larger steps. Who knows, you might start making mix tapes one day, or customized playlists.

Music, being one of the main ways that people connect, represents an important aspect of a friendship. Thus, when two people agree on an album or an artist, it creates a heart-warming sensation of mutual agreement that will further discussion.

Does anyone else feel very pretentious and hipster for knowing music before it becomes popular? I do, certainly. Momentarily, I’ll feel musically superior to someone else. It’s a feeling that also comes when I share music with my friends, because rarely does the music I enjoy ever end up on pop radio. The only emotion I’ll feel in that situation is agitation, because I know that I’ll eventually come to hate the song after the radio has ripped its originality to shreds, releasing its radio edits and fading out curse words.

– Daily Prompt

Enjoy The Music But Nothing More

Enjoy the music. Submerge yourself in your own interpretation of the lyrics.

Bath in the rhythm.

Bask in the beat.

Do whatever you need to do to show your appreciation of beautiful music, but stop getting so excited about the artists themselves.

It’s somewhat difficult to say that I have a favorite artist. I call myself a single song buyer, because I seldom enjoy/listen to an album at a time; I’ll probably just enjoy a few songs from a large variety of artists.

When I listen to music, I listen to ONLY the music. I’ll admire the album cover for a couple of seconds and I’ll probably gawk over a pretty face but I’ll tend to focus on the music itself. I suppose that if I shifted focus, I’d probably associate a song with a certain artist instead of with a personal experience, which I prefer. I don’t know what the ultimate point of music is, but it’s not to fawn over people that we’ve never met.

I don’t care about the way the band formed. Don’t tell me about the four times they broke up. I’ll watch the music video but don’t expect me to have watched it beforehand. Why should I be concerned about the personal lives about singers, actors, and the like?

If we continue to obsess about ordinary people like this, we mentally categorize them as people who are just overall better than us, which would be a complete lie. Yes, maybe they do have better voices than us. They can probably write better lyrics than we can, but are they as fast of runners as us? Can they teach trig like my Calc teacher can? Can they knit as well as my grandma? These are just a few examples and simple ways to demonstrate that these so-called “stars” are not as special as we often designate them to be.

Inspiration is good. Having role models is an essential component of worthy success, but there comes a point when we’ve just got to stop glorifying them.

Go to a concert, if you must. It  will probably help you get over your obsession, and your expectation of perfection that you have of them, as soon as you see them up on stage, sweating, singing out of tune, and out of breath.

They’ll give a quality show, no doubt, but they are in no way perfect. There’s really no reason to care about what goes on in their lives.
And this opinion of mine also spills over into the realm of celebrities in general.

Why do we alienate celebrities? Do we just assume that since they’re famous and beautiful, that they’re better than us? LIES.

Also – why do we care about their lives? I’m guilty and hypocritical because I’m often obsessed with celebrities but I still think my approach is counterproductive. I become obsessed with a certain celebrity and I’ll either want to be them or marry them. I’ll envy their life over mine when really there’s not much to envy. Why do we have reality TV shows? Is it really just for shallow entertainment, or do some people actually wish they led such lives?

There’s corruption in that system. There’s airbrushing and photoshopping. Everyday, people get paid off to promote something that they would never even consider if there weren’t some economic incentive for them.

Yet, there are actually beautiful people, people born with features so delicate and picture-perfect that you can’t help but advertise their face. There are some people out there with extraordinary talents of singing, dancing, acting, etc. We should appreciate these talents, but limit just how much we appreciate them. Don’t forget to love yourself and your quirks, abilities, and special skills once in a while. Just because you’ve never been on an ad or TV doesn’t mean you’re less worthy than them.

Except maybe Neil Patrick Harris.