Listening to Music You Don't Like

Rather unfortunately, subjectivity is at the heart of music appreciation. There are plenty of guidelines to what makes good music and there are even ways to study how "good" music is.

That's what music theory is, after all. You learn rules, analyze compositions, and determine what is "good" and what is "bad."

Then there are also ways of analyzing lyrical content to determine how good lyrics are. This can be judged by things like who the audience is, what the purpose of the song is, etc.

But there are always exceptions. There are things that seem to follow no rules. These things are either seen as genius or garbage. Lou Reed's, Metal Machine Music, or John Cage's, 4:33, are perfect examples. They are genius, but follow nothing conventional.

But someone else hates Metal Machine Music because they "don't get it." Instead, they like the parallel fifths in power chord progressions in radio rock. And to them ...that is good music.

I like a rather large variety of music. However, I loath country and americana and most things related. It's the vocals - I just can't get into it. Country music makes me feel ill at times and causes me to freak out. Some people don't like mayonnaise or don't like snakes. I don't like country music.

Unfortunately, this week's B-Sides was folksy with a little hint of country/americana thrown in the mix - Joe Whyte. Initially I was going to just leave, but I decided to stay. Part of me just wanted to talk to some friends, I guess.

So in between bits and pieces of conversation, I tried to tune out the band. It didn't work.

After I gave up on trying to tune them out, I decided to listen for the purpose of analysis. Despite the simple song structure that I generally despise, I came to determine that, if I were to like that kind of music, I would like this band. I saw some of the things that listeners of that genre listen for and hear in the music that they like.

It was like listening to the radio. I could hear why someone could like it, without liking it myself. From that standpoint, it was very interesting. I started paying attention to how individual notes were utilized and where predictable could be seen as "catchy."

This didn't make me dislike the music less. I still don't like the entire genre. However, it was a rare glimpse into what those people may think while listening to music. And what people are thinking when they hear music is how the subjective gets wrapped back into this. To be able to understand all angles of such subjectivity, I wouldn't say is important, but feel that it is probably a useful tool.

On this note, I would encourage people to get out of their comfort zone into some place that terrifies you. Go to a metal show or out to see a string quartet and figure out what it is that makes people like it and what sets it apart. By no means do I ever want to see another country-esque act again, but I feel like I was able to get more out of the situation by thinking more along those lines.

-Alex