If you took away school, work, and sleep, music would be my life. Literally. I've spent the past 15 years teaching myself instruments: starting with piano at 2 1/2 years old, then keyboard (totally different from piano), organ, bass guitar, electric/acoustic guitars (yes - I play them differently, too), ukulele, banjo, and violin. Not only do I love playing music and performing, but I listen to music almost constantly. From Beethoven to Wiz Khalifa, I have almost every genre on my iPod - and over 8000 songs.
Music is a sacred culture - it isn't based on where you live or what language you speak or what you look like. Anyone who has taken Spanish has heard Juanes at least 5 billion times. You might not know that "Tengo La Camisa Negra" is really about Juanes losing his love, not a black shirt, but that doesn't matter: its still a catchy song that nearly everyone loves. Juanes is Colombian, but that doesn't stop Americans, and other people around the world, from listening to his music. Music has a subculture that spans beyond the normal cultural limits: it goes beyond language, location, population, etc. This expansion makes it sacred, and shouldn't be a basis for judgement.
So now where do I fit when people judge music? Everyone can look at someone else and assume what music he or she listens to based on what they look like, what they're wearing, and even how they talk. This might be true sometimes, but where do the people who don't actually have a favorite genre fall? They're still judged to fit into a certain type, and when they not only listen to this music but many others, why is the one judging so flabberghasted?
Why are music listeners stereotyped? Are people so desperate to judge each other that they must resort to music type?
2 comments:
I've always felt like music is something that spans across cultures - even when different cultures have different types of music, people can enjoy unfamiliar music styles.
I used to judge people's music taste based on their looks - hell, I probably still do to an extent. But some of the people I've met over the years have completely changed my perception of the differences in appearance that can accompany genre preference. Some people with no piercings, no tattoos, no black clothing or anything typically associated with metal and its subgenres can be into some of the heaviest music in the known world. And it just shows that no matter who you are and how you dress, music pierces the soul, not just the surface.
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