On that bombshell (rip my taste in guys), moving on to the next post! Back near the beginning of this blog, I mentioned that music could be aesthetically pleasing. I also mentioned ASMR and sound in general, but that deserves a whole post of its own. But I really want to unpack this topic with you, because I have a passion for music. I am in no way or capacity musically gifted, but I believe that everyone can have a personal stake in the music they listen to.
The aesthetics of music is a whole scientific niche in itself. I didn’t realise this until I stumbled across all the scholarly articles and Youtube videos explaining and exploring this concept. There are so many aspects and perspectives to this topic, but I’ll try to keep it short and sweet with minimal waffle (again, BYO maple syrup).
From what I have read, there seem to be two overarching philosophies of how to analyse and view music. One, is through a scientific lens, the other, is seeing music as art. These two concepts conflict on a fundamental level, though I think that there is truth and value to both. Another popular pattern in my research, is for Classical and Modern music to be pitted against and compared to each other. However, I would like to view both under the same banner, for simplicities’ sake.
First and foremost, our taste in music is (from what I’ve gathered from reading multiple experiments and reports) culturally, experientially and age based. For example, the music preferences of people living in the Amazon vary greatly to those who live in Western Countries, on a fundamental level, like finding dissonant and consonant sounds to be opposingly pleasing (http://news.mit.edu/2016/music-tastes-cultural-not-hardwired-brain-0713 ).
Experientially, music and songs that you listen to when you experience situations that elicit strong emotions are imprinted in your mind. For example, the music your friends used to listen to while having a sleepover and gorging yourselves on snacks and laughing, can bring out a positive emotional reaction. You may then associate songs and music that sound similar, with that positive feeling.
Your age when you discover music you like is also a big factor, as developmental and hormonal stages during adolescence and puberty can aid in developing strong emotional attachments to the music you listen to. This also ties closely with the emotional reaction associated with liking certain kinds of music. Because the teen years are so emotionally charged, turbulent and mixed with the bittersweet, age also has a significant impact. I mean, everybody loves them boots with the fur and the fireflies (if you’re anywhere near my age, you know).
So, to tie these concepts together, and using myself as an example: I live in a Western culture, my family used to take long road trips to go camping when I was a teenager and we would all listen to Tracey Chapman and Corrine Bailey-Rae, as well as the Eurythmics, Paul Simon and Dire Straits. I definitely think that these are all things that have impacted my taste in music, as I still like these bands and singers, as well as music that sounds similar, if not more recent. Though, in saying that, my parents hate some artists that I adore, like Twenty One Pilots, NF and the Radwimps. I guess that is my socio-culture, age and personal taste coming out though.
But this is more from the scientific/psychological point of view. From an intrinsic and artistic aspect, things get more interesting. As I have said over and over and over again (and I will probably say many more times), beauty and aesthetics are in the eye of the beholder. Science and philosophical musings can only go so far. For example, there is no “scientific” reason that is justifiable for me to like the band Radwimps. This is because they are a Japanese group, that sometimes sings in a language that I don’t speak, that I didn’t discover during my mid-teens, and is unlike anything my parents ever listened to or that I have an emotional attachment with. So, the above paragraph is completely blown out of the water when this aspect of taste in music comes into play. The only reason I can come up with? I am a unique person that really can’t be categorised, summarised, simplified or generalised by science. And so are you! I strongly believe that humans are way to complicated and contrary to be completely understood. People will always have unique quirks and anomalies about them.
Of course, a whole other aspect to this is lyrics, but I want to set aside a whole other post for that. So stay tuned! As always, feel free to love and share. See you again soon X
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