Musical Resolution: Are You In?

This year, Oscar season is turning me oddly introspective regarding what we watch and listen to, and whether we should be seeking out material that inspires, educates, and makes us feel emotions the way that only humans can. Read on.


As I was heading home the other day, headphones on as per usual, I found myself skipping nearly every song on my iPod. Of course, music burnout happens to the best of us - be it from a song played every 10 minutes on the radio, or a symphony we've listened to 100 times on our computers, it happens. Our ears get fatigued, we get bored.

That evening, I decided to do an overhaul of my playlists. I completely cleared out my library, downloaded about 10 new albums from Amazon's 'best of 2012' list in various genres, and set to work listening to some new stuff. To be honest, I found myself skipping nearly every new song halfway through. Nothing was grabbing me, and I felt frustrated.

And then I had this rogue thought - "Oh, I'll just keep it on here. Its fine, I guess." What? That's not acceptable, especially not for a musician. And this brings me to the point of this post. How many of us allow others to dictate what we listen to? Radio, media, friends, family, professors, and many more can try to influence us to say what is the "right" kind of music to listen to. Let me be perfectly clear: there is no "right" kind of music.

This pressure can be especially strong in music conservatories and universities. Professors and mentors will tell you what to avoid and what they think constitutes "real" music. As educators, that is unacceptable. Music speaks to everyone in different ways, that's why it is such an amazingly diverse industry. Educators (especially in the music area of academia) need to nurture a student's interest, not squash it because it doesn't fit some rigid definition of what makes "good" music.

Media can influence us all what to listen to. This article from Cracked.com focuses on the greed of record labels, but a couple of paragraphs are dedicated to how they dodge certain regulations by using something called "Pay-for-Play." Its apparently how Limp Bizkit got so popular. Essentially, radio stations get payed to play certain music more than others. For those of us who listen to a lot of radio, this can obviously influence what we think is interesting.

So after my failure of new music, I spent a few hours playing hopscotch through Youtube and Amazon, trying desperately to find something that I just had to listen to more than once. Something to give me goose bumps and inspire me to learn, to explore, to write new music! And then I found this.

I was on the train when I first heard this. I had to listen to it over and over. I almost missed my stop. I was transported, transfixed, absolutely mesmerized by an arrangement of a song by Rihanna that I didn't particularly enjoy in its original form (Again, this isn't to say the original isn't "good," it just didn't appeal to me specifically).

I sat down at home and devoured the rest of their album. Then I moved on, following the cello theme. Though I'd heard this before, I returned to it.

Its just as inspiring as the first time I heard it. The ingenuity of the arrangement is engaging and exciting, and makes Bach cool to people who don't live in musical Academia.

I'm making a new musical resolution to only listen to music that inspires, educates, and engages me. I'm not talking about when you're at work and your boss insists on the Muzak channel, I mean in your free time. Clean out those old libraries. Ditch what you find yourself skipping over and over, and seek out stuff that gives you goosebumps. Make your commute more enjoyable with music that inspires your day and uplifts you on a sonic level. Dig deep. There's no shame about what appeals to you! Don't let anyone guilt you about what DOESN'T appeal to you, either. We're all different for a reason.

That said, I'm opening this blog up to suggestions. Got a song or a piece that inspires you? Let me know. Tell me WHY it inspires you. Send it to my inbox (musicgeekage@gmail.com). Be it bluegrass, pop, classical, hip-hop or rock, my opinion isn't the only one that dictates what is musically notable.

Til next time, friends.