My strange tastes in music - good or bad?

aja

I like the following type of things (to listen to)

>MUSE
>The Beatles
>Creedence Clearwater Revival
>most classic rock from 60's and 70's
>Simon + Garfunkel
>Moody Blues
>A perfect circle
>Coheed and Cambria
>Marcy Playground
>classical music - mostly choral or piano works
>Sparklehorse - really weird guy
>Cat Stevens
>Cold Play
>Foo Fighters
>Chili Peppers

Some cheesy things:

>Nirvana
>Offspring
>Abba
>Aha!
>Eurithmics
>Queen

Some pil-kop things:

>Faithless
>Tiesto
>all types of trance/techno/psy-trance

Is it bad to listen to styles of music that differ greatly to that which you intend on playing? Sometimes I find myself getting tabs and learning songs I have never heard. Part of the fun I guess... I suppose it increases my diversity, but I wonder if listening to "Muse breaks RMS" by Infected Mushroom can really have a good impact on me as a guitarist who aspires to play classic and hard rock? On the other hand, I can't imagine Keira only listens to traditional Flamenco music.

MikeM

Dude. There are no rules ? I listen to very similar stuff to you (Besides the housey trancey stuff), as well as some rap/hip hop whatever you call it, but I play lots of blues and now jazz.

Just means your influences will be different and original. Kiera has a pretty broad spectrum too I am sure ? Moreso than me at least!!

RobK

I listen to a lot of those on your list and a lot of others that aren't. What I listen to at a particular time is influenced by the mood I'm in. Maybe listening to "strange" music may have an influence on my playing style, but that's not neccesarily a bad thing - it would make my style really mine, I think.

DaFiz

Nothing really strange about it Bud. I listen to old laid back (Moody Blues, David Gilmour, CSNY) stuff which just won't go down very well with the band I'm in. :-[ They wanna boogie fast & furious ?

Fortunately one can speed up the blues riffs... :woohoo:

Keira-WitherKay

hey listen to what you enjoy .............

and strangely enough i can be inspired for what i play in my acoustic world music genre .. but pieces that are not world music at all....... but i like the chord structure or the way they structure the harmony ......... i still listen to steve vai and ZZ top even though i have not played electric guitar professionally for almost 5 years now......

although i do have one tip to add..... if you say wanna learn how to play in a particular style......... just overdose on listening (not playing just listening) to that style 24 /7 with nothing else for a few weeks and pretty soon you will pick up the feel and how they structure the melodies and arrangements in that style..cos really all music is only 12 notes in western world it' how we connect them together that makes the different styles and feels.and each style has it's own "recipe" and listening to enough of it will teach you to recognise that recipe....... and once you get the recipe ..you'll own the style........

so yeah listening can play a huge role in how you play .......

peace and light
keira

Riaan

I listen to a lot of those too. There's no such a thing as strange or bad taste in music as far as I'm concerned. Well almost...but none of it on your list! ?

The more varied the styles of listening, the better I think.

Squonk

@ AJA Not Good or Bad but STRANGE ?

I can listen to many things but battle with the trance stuff.

I have gone through many strange phases as well.

The first 3 albums I bought with lots of hard earned pocket money were:
1970 - The Best of the Beach Boys - I thought they were brilliant
1974 - Band on the Run - Wings , I bought it at Dions for R3.99
1974 - Old , New, Borrowed and Blue - Slade , A big band in the Uk in the 70's , very influential on rock bands of the 80's

Albums I Acquired in 1974/75 that changed my life:
Tommy - The Who
Fragile - Yes
Another Band from La - Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix

Became big fans of Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van der graaf generator, Peter Hammil, Peter Gabriel, The first 4 albums of Queen, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues etc etc

Enjoyed the Punk Movement, not for the music but because it was anti establishment and was angry
Discovered Iggy Pop, The Stranglers, Talking Heads, The Clash, Television, The Vibrators etc, it was good angry music

Then the 80's happened and I couldn't come to grips with Starship and Climie Fisher etc so I turned to some more Jazzy stuff -
Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Stanley Clarke, Weather Report, George Duke etc etc

Then the 90's came and I first went through a Steve Morse and Dixie Dreggs phase before leaning towards the blues, started listening to Rory Galagher, Stevie RV, etc

And now I listen to anything except trance ?. Even getting into Metal!

I have most probably left out half of what I listen to, it's just too much to remember in 10 minutes

FenderBender

Hey aja nice broad scope of genres there. A lot like mine. I go through phases and come full circle annually ?

The only stuff that makes me get the hammer out is bubblegum trance. Psy & progressive are ok as they are usually rock based, often with live axemen playing at river based outdoor resorts. Damn I'm missing those ?

Bob-Dubery

aja wrote Is it bad to listen to styles of music that differ greatly to that which you intend on playing?

No. In fact it ~~may be~~ is a good thing. You may pick up ideas from those other forms that enrich your playing in whatever genre it is you actually play.

Thinking of some of my fave players....

John Martyn, usually regarded as a folky or a folk-rocker, listened to lots of jazz and was heavily influenced by Pharaoh Sanders. He said that his then innovative use of effects and especially echo with acoustic guitar in the early 70s was an attempt to mimic Sanders' sound.

Nick Drake. Remembered as an acoustic guitarist and initially operated in a the finger-style blues tradition that was big in England in the 60s. But he listened to a lot of jazz and classical music (and could also play the clarinet) and allowed all those colours into the mix.

Richard Thompson. Confuses the critics and the people who write the "file under...." stickers for CD cases. He's regarded as a sort of celtic folk-rocker, but also as electric guitar deity. He chucks all sorts of things into his musical melting pot from jazz guitarists like Django and Barney Kessel to people who aren't even guitarists EG Jerry Lee Lewis EG bagpipe player Billy Pigg. Plus he has an interest in Andalusian music. All of that gets chucked into the mix and gives him such a rich palette to work from.

Sometimes I find myself getting tabs and learning songs I have never heard. Part of the fun I guess... I suppose it increases my diversity, but I wonder if listening to "Muse breaks RMS" by Infected Mushroom can really have a good impact on me as a guitarist who aspires to play classic and hard rock? On the other hand, I can't imagine Keira only listens to traditional Flamenco music.

Big ears are good IMO. One of the things that makes so many 60s musicians interesting to me is that they HAD lots of influences, and let it show. You can pay due respect and homage to your influences and still be original.

Bob-Dubery

Or a better known example: Jimmy Page. All those celtic/folky things he picked up from Davy Graham and Bert Jansch. And the bowed guitar thing - my theory is that he got that from watching Danny Thompson at Pentangle gigs. No matter... one of the pioneers of heavy rock but he could play finger-style acoustic pieces in DADGAD, or even take DADGAD onto an electric guitar. Another player who had lots of colours in his palette.

aubs1

Hey Aja, I can listen to Jimi Hendrix, Queen, The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, Youssou N'Dour, Keith Jarrett, The Rolling Stones and CELINE DION (she is an incredible singer) in one sitting........who cares....... you listen to what you enjoy, I don't have to comply with anyone's tastes but my own.......so is it good or bad???? .......... sometimes I even listen to P.P. Arnold (from my dad's collection when I was a kid!!)........now hell, how many of us remember or have even heard of her....??

Yep, I am also influenced by my mood, I think we all are...........!! ?

[deleted]

I can appreciate anything that has a great melody and catchy tunes. No matter the genre...

except... Opera. . . Hip Hop ... and "Angry" Music ~~(heavy metal)~~

aubs1

Brentcgp wrote I can appreciate anything that has a great melody and catchy tunes. No matter the genre...
except... Opera. . . Hip Hop ... and "Angry" Music ~~(heavy metal)~~

Hahahahaha......with you on that Brent......can't even understand why music has to be "Angry".....way over my head.....!!! >☹

[deleted]

aubs1 wrote
Brentcgp wrote I can appreciate anything that has a great melody and catchy tunes. No matter the genre...
except... Opera. . . Hip Hop ... and "Angry" Music ~~(heavy metal)~~
Hahahahaha......with you on that Brent......can't even understand why music has to be "Angry".....way over my head.....!!! >☹

Yeah it actually makes me uptight... rather that than Opera tho ?

Only way to explain Opera is, like being stabbed in the back and instead of dying... you sing...

Heath

i have never been able to get into dance / rave / techno electronic kinda music , i have tried , it just irritates the sh!t out of me . i have tried i honestly have . hell even did the drugs to go with that kind of music just made me goto sleep .

oh well to each there own i suppose

aubs1

Brentcgp wrote Only way to explain Opera is, like being stabbed in the back and instead of dying... you sing...

LOL........ geez, that does describe opera quite nicely.......hahahaha.... ?

chris77

I'm very opiniated and will make up my mind whether I like a song within the first 20 seconds. But I will give it its 20sec regardless of the genre and the artists performing it. Theres a lot of good artists with bad songs and vice versa so I try to judge the song not its heritage. My favourite bands are the ones who imo get it right more often than the rest, but its still a subjective opinion based on my personal taste. My pet hate however is music made exclusively for the sake of the sale. At least "angry" music or opera has something other than the desperate stench of commercial hype to substantiate it. Theres a special hell for people who do synchronised dancing while lip-syncing...

[deleted]

chris77 wrote Theres a special hell for people who do synchronised dancing while lip-syncing...

HAHAHAHA ? ~~Jonas Brothers?~~

EDIT// I retract my statement ? forgive me GFSA members

Heath

YOU SAID JONAS BROTHERS ON THE GUITAR FORUM , you heathen , you should be taken outside tied to a tree and made to listen to celine dion for 12 days straight ...... then while on parole you will be made to listen to bryan adams ........

we won't make you listen to the jonas brothers thats against the Geneva convention

dee

Personally I believe you have to listen to what makes you happy, what ever that might be....regardless of other people's opinions on what is hype/crap/polular etc.

My music choice ranges from Chris de Burgh to Disturbed back to the Philip Glass Ensemble. I'm willing to listen to everything, and while I might not like the artist(s) and I'm not about to run and buy their latest album, I can recognise a good song, and might learn something from it.