A lot of people say that our musical tastes define us. I don’t believe that’s at all true. Our favorite musical genres do not define our personalities or our actions, but they do give insight into our lives and the people who influence it.
I grew up with music being played around the house constantly. Whether my dad was playing his guitar or we were listening to one of my mom’s CD’s, my parents always had us musically involved. When my brother and I were little, my mom would play one of her salsa cd’s and have us dance all around the living room. At garage sales and swap meets my dad taught me how to look patiently through the never-ending racks of cds and vinyl records lined up in numerous rows. I learned that you can almost always find unexpected gems if you search closely. Throughout my childhood, my parents always played all sorts of different music and encouraged my brother and I to take up an instrument that seemed interesting. My brother started with the saxaphone and later took up the flute and the piano. My first instrument was the trumpet and I enjoyed the fact that there were technically only three keys available to play. I used to think emptying the spit valve was the funnest thing in the world. During my trumpet days I tried out the flute, but had no interest. When I stopped playing the trumpet my parents pushed me to join piano with my brother. I reproachfully agreed to a one week trial and ended have well exceeded my trial with six and a half years under my belt. I fell in love with everything about it.
When I first started playing piano, classical music didn’t interest me. My dad used to frequently play Rachmaninoff, Mozart or a Beethoven cds while we were eating breakfast. They were pretty-sounding but even when I was became more advanced and was capable of playing classical music, hearing it wasn’t anything I would listen to if I had a choice. This all changed when a new classmate joined our piano group at the studio. She would bring up all these composers I had never heard of. She would talk about how each composer articulated their pieces and how beautiful it was to listen to. I became intrigued by this so called “beauty” and started looking up all these acclaimed composers she spoke of. These composers, Scriabin, Bartok, Schumann and others were completely outside the realm of my knowledge. When I thought of classicaI music I was so narrow-minded and always thought of the typical composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven), but I had never explored outside of what I knew. My classmate and I became really good friends and now, we have a tradition where we share our classical finds.
I don’t like the idea of generalizing music tastes through the way people dress or act. Judging on my appearance people are always surprising to learn I listen to classical music. I listen and enjoy a lot of different genres. We shouldn’t be stuck on the idea that we can only have one favorite genre. I like to listen to rap too. In my perspective there are two different types of rap: 1. Strict beat poppin, songs or artist that focus on the beat and getting their music to the top of the charts. 2. (My Favorite) Lyrical based raps. There’s nothing more powerful than sending a hard hitting message to the public.
People influence each other in powerful ways, and music is a huge one. Whether it’s an artist or a friend telling you to checkout a sing you’ll like, all sorts of music can touch you. I have another close friend who manages to send me links to her newest indie song addictions. I have another friend who keeps me updated on the pop charts. My mom has kept me in touch with her favorite spanish rock songs. Everything has its grace. It’s just about finding it.
Nothing beats a Chopin Nocturne, John Lennon belting “Mother,” a Mac Miller verse on one of his mixtapes, or Ed Sheeran playing his guitar while singing a rendition of a popular cover. I laugh when people think someone’s intelligence is based on what they listen to. We never know what we like until we go out and explore for ourselves.
–Laura
ATIC State of Mind 