musical interests
brainofme
Posts: 231
i've been thinking about this for a while, and haven't come to an answer yet, so i thought i could share with you.
i consider myself as having a great taste in music ;-) , but i'm kind of wondering why?! i've been thinking about this in the past, but watching iconoclast brought it back to mind. for those who have seen it, it's the passage where ed talks about his dad and that his relatives said his interest in music comes from his biological father who was a musician himself....
well i'm not a musician myself. tried to learn myself a bit of guitar playing a few years ago, but failed and haven't really tried lately...
...but that's not what i'm wondering about. it's actually my taste in music. the bands and songs that i like etc. most of you will probably say that you are influenced by your older siblings our your friends, and some may have parents that have a good taste that reflects in you. but that isn't the case in my family. i have no siblings, and i can't think of any band that a friend of mine really liked, and made me like it. and my parents haven't influenced my either. my mother almost hates music. well i guess she likes some songs, but i haven't really figured out what a song needs to have so she can enjoy it. and my father likes music, but his taste is as horrible as it gets. im my country you would call it "schlager" or "volksmusik". as my parents are divordced and i haven't heard or seen my father for almost 4 years, and haven't had a lot of relationship with him in the years before, he could not influence me as well.
alright, this got far too long and too personal, but what i would like to talk about is, if you think that the love for things like music is in oneself, and needn't be influenced in any biological or social kind of way?
i consider myself as having a great taste in music ;-) , but i'm kind of wondering why?! i've been thinking about this in the past, but watching iconoclast brought it back to mind. for those who have seen it, it's the passage where ed talks about his dad and that his relatives said his interest in music comes from his biological father who was a musician himself....
well i'm not a musician myself. tried to learn myself a bit of guitar playing a few years ago, but failed and haven't really tried lately...
...but that's not what i'm wondering about. it's actually my taste in music. the bands and songs that i like etc. most of you will probably say that you are influenced by your older siblings our your friends, and some may have parents that have a good taste that reflects in you. but that isn't the case in my family. i have no siblings, and i can't think of any band that a friend of mine really liked, and made me like it. and my parents haven't influenced my either. my mother almost hates music. well i guess she likes some songs, but i haven't really figured out what a song needs to have so she can enjoy it. and my father likes music, but his taste is as horrible as it gets. im my country you would call it "schlager" or "volksmusik". as my parents are divordced and i haven't heard or seen my father for almost 4 years, and haven't had a lot of relationship with him in the years before, he could not influence me as well.
alright, this got far too long and too personal, but what i would like to talk about is, if you think that the love for things like music is in oneself, and needn't be influenced in any biological or social kind of way?
Vienna, Austria 2006
Munich, Germany 2007
Munich, Germany 2007
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Your tendencies to like some things more than others is related to how you are uniquely put together and what you do with it.
Take me for example...My mom is a musician and likes classical music as well as SATB vocal music (like Chanticleer as an example), which I also enjoy. My dad liked 60s and 70s rock like Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Doors, the Beatles, CCR, Steppenwolf, etc....and I like those too. However, both of them also liked folk music like Peter Paul and Mary, James Taylor, Guthries, etc. and I really don't like folk music. So some tastes could be hereditary or passed down, but others aren't. I probably made no sense just now.
I highly doubt biology and genes have any significant take on a person's interest in music. Most of it has to do with outside influences, whether you can identify those sources or not. It seems the thread starter doesn't know what outside sources caused his interest in music... could be what music is popular in the area you live in, or it could be what music speaks to you the most emotionally, or it could be any number of things.
You don't think that musical ability and an intense interest in music is related to genes? I disagree with you, but you're entitled to your opinion as much as I am.
I thought you meant that his personal taste in what music he likes comes from his genes, which is not accurate at all. But yeah, an interest in music in general and musical ability does come somewhat from your genes... but still not as much as your environment, I think.
Musical proficiency and the degree music interests us past young adulthood is inherited. I'm sure growing up with people who actively pursue musical interests affects a person, but genetics are the basis of most of what we are. An adopted person who comes from a musical family shows an interest in music regardless of their upbringing.
My grandmother was a hick. She had nothing. She was half Native American, poor, and grew up on a pig farm in West Virgina. She was running through a field as a child and came across a rusted harmonica. Who knows how old that thing was or where it came from, but we see it as a symbol of musical inheritance. Surely she wasn't the first in the family line, but she's the one we know. She taught herself to play it and 11 other instruments.
Musical tastes are not inherited. Tastes are affected by the environment. Again, my grandmother's favorite song was Blueberry Hill. She raised a boy who went on to sing opera. Go figure. If taste were inherited, he'd have sung country.
Don't know why I'm telling the collective you about this but whatever.
.
Aless
Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.
Tell them.
That is pretty awesome!
Yeah. I wonder if it was from the civil war era. She was born 1908. It was old when she found it.
She used to tell stories of riding pigs and urinating in tin cans. I used to be so embarrassed when she'd go on like that in front of my friends. I look back now and realize what a fucking moron I was (ok, we're talking 8 but still!)
She used to embarrass me in general. She answered the phone before she got there. Seriously. "Telephone! Telephone! Hello, hello." LOL. Maybe it was practice. They didn't have phones when she was younger and I don't know when she was able to finally afford one. But me and my friends would snicker.
We are an eccentric family, no doubt. We used to sing instead of talk. I'm sure I embarrass my kids but they swear I don't. Like I believe that!
Aless
Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.
Tell them.
My point is, you make different types of connections with various artists...each connection stems from something different. I do think there is a biological element there, but there's definitely others...social elements, environmental elements, etc. So your overall taste in music (and art in general) is a combination of all those elements. I think as you get older and become more in touch with yourself, the biological influence starts to come into play more. I'm not sure "biological" is the right word either, but I think I know what you mean by it.
Interesting thread!
i think you are right by saying that your interest in things like music is caused by your genes. there are/were people from both sides of my family who had interest in music. my grandmothers brother who died as a 21 year old in world war 2 has taught himself to play accordion, and he was far better than his friend who has had a teacher.
and i know that my father (from the other side of the family) always wanted to learn an instrument but hadn't the possibility to do so.
but as you mentioned the interesting thing for me is why one person likes britney spears bubblegum music, the other one classical music, country or rock?
and in my case i don't see any real "environmental" or "biological" factors.
well, i guess there's no real answer, but i think it's an interesting topic...
Munich, Germany 2007