the acquisition of a 'taste'

[opia]

just link to the site and be done with it

http://www.latinsayings.info/

[Hewitt Huntwork]

This is a link from a thread called "Music and Neuroscience". Really interesting lecture given at Microsoft by the author of "This Is Your Brain On Music". It's about an hour long but well worth it. I was reminded of it by the comment that the music you like at 12-13 years of age is what you like your whole life. This guy agrees somewhat but expands on that idea.

http://ego.psych.mcgill.ca/levitin.html ... oft64k.ram

[Musicologo]

Very interesting topic.

I'd say that mainly your musical taste should be connected to your life.

The perception of «what is music?» and «What is just sound?» is itself problematic. How do we distinguish a cluster of sounds from music?

I believe that the answer to that primary question of "How and what we understand as music" can give you the best link to your question about musical taste.

And I believe that the perception of what music is is linked to your life, your ego, your cultural context, your influences since childood, etc. In one word: to YOU, your conscience.

So, to understand your musical taste you must understand and ask about yourself first. What led me into this? Why do I like metal? Why do I even consider metal a kind of music? What have these bunch of sounds in special?

Taking a leap now,

Humans usually reject the unknown and fear what they cannot understand. And usually fancy what identifies closer to them.

So probably, your musical taste in a certain context of your life probably relates that in this moment you identify yourself to those sounds. You see yourself in those sounds.

[tapper mike]

There are very few musical styles that can convey all of these emotions and mental states effectively:

Joy
Irony
Rage
Contemplation
Regret
Suspense
Dignity
Loneliness
Horror
Lust
Melancholy
Embarrassment
Tragedy
Aggression
Heartbreak
Hubris
Serene
Arrogance
Injustice
Danger

Somebody here hasn't listed to enough blues. About the only thing not found is serenity.

[Lunatique]

There are very few musical styles that can convey all of these emotions and mental states effectively:

Joy
Irony
Rage
Contemplation
Regret
Suspense
Dignity
Loneliness
Horror
Lust
Melancholy
Embarrassment
Tragedy
Aggression
Heartbreak
Hubris
Serene
Arrogance
Injustice
Danger

Somebody here hasn't listed to enough blues. About the only thing not found is serenity.

I don't know if blues can convey all those things as effectively or more effectively than other styles of music. I think a claim like that can only be made if the style in question can do just as well or better than other styles of music in conveying these ideas/emotions. For example, Metal, rap, punk, industrial...etc can certainly convey rage and aggression far better than blues ever could. Orchestral scores can certainly convey horror, tragedy, heartbreak, danger, suspense...etc far more effectively than blues could.

[jackson]

What I find interesting is the overwhelming consensus that music is meant to express or convey emotion.

People can find a book interesting even if it doesn't 'move' them. They might not care about the characters but they can still appreciate the subtleties of plot and the elegance of the word flow.

But with music, this sort of intellectual appreciation is very rare.

Which probably explains why so much music is in 4/4 time.

I dunno... A whole lot of peeps into (good) dance music would say that what moves them is the subtleties of a song's progression and the elegance of making the used sounds flow. Well, at least that's what the punters say when they're f**ked up at the club

I lost interest in rockstar's faux emotional intent a long time ago.

[Shane Sanders]

It's the contrasts that get me going sometimes. With actual songs (with lyrics), I'm a sucker for the bitter-sweetness of a track like Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone". But I have the same kind of love for various kinds of instrumental rock and experimental stuff that comes across to me as being more about colors (:-)) and abstract comparisons of intensity/rhythms/timbres.

[tapper mike]

Nobody on a dance floor is analyzing composition or arrangement.

They are getting thier ya ya's out.

[Lunatique]

Nobody on a dance floor is analyzing composition or arrangement.

They are getting thier ya ya's out.

Well, how relevant that is depends on how important you think the dance floor is. For many musicians, the dance floor has zero meaning for them.