Musical Tastes: Do They Tell Everything About Us?

[Frigga]

I was thinking last night about musical tastes in people and how it is that they seem to tell quite a bit about the person. But I'll leave it open for interpretation for you all to fill in on.

How do you think that a person's musical tastes shows what type of person that they are? How do you think that you are able to anticipate their political views, moral standing, religious beliefs, and even if whether or not you might get along with them socially? Do you think that there is a correlation between different types and styles of music, and the apparent shallowness and/or depth of an individual? Do you think that culturally and racially that musical tastes are inclusive or exclusive?

Do you think that my question is bollocks and if yes, how so?

[manu]

where I live, high school students have this interesting habit of writing the names of their favourite bands on the back of their schoolbags. I remember from my school years, even before getting to know someone, you could have told what kind of guy/girl he/she was: old fashion rocker (Pink Floyd, Deep, Ledz), generic metalhead (Metallica, Irons, AC/DC), Defender (Irons, Manowar, Mercyful Fate), Punkrocker (Pistols, Clash, Damned), Melodic Hardcorer (Nofx, Millencollin, Rancid), Dark (Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus) etc. I've always wondered if kids from the rest of the world do the same thing.

[Lahtari]

I don't think you can tell a person's character by what kind of music he/she listens, that's at least the case for most people. But sure you can tell that somebody who listens to Oi! is probably more aggressive. :D
But that's a subcultural thing - the music comes with the package and is just a part of it.

The thing is, most people do not actively search new musical styles that could interest them, they just listen the kind of music that they know of and what they're used to. Which is probably the same what their friends listen. And even the music enthusiasts and professional musicians who actively and open-mindedly search new infuences can have radical changes what they like at different times, but that doesn't mean their personality has changed.

[Grey]

where I live, high school students have this interesting habit of writing the names of their favourite bands on the back of their schoolbags. I remember from my school years, even before getting to know someone, you could have told what kind of guy/girl he/she was: old fashion rocker (Pink Floyd, Deep, Ledz), generic metalhead (Metallica, Irons, AC/DC), Defender (Irons, Manowar, Mercyful Fate), Punkrocker (Pistols, Clash, Damned), Melodic Hardcorer (Nofx, Millencollin, Rancid), Dark (Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus) etc. I've always wondered if kids from the rest of the world do the same thing.

They do that here, too, but the most common ones now are either country or emo bands.

[anonymaus]

I don't know, why don't we test?

This is my list of "I am now listening to..." posts. How close does it match your perception of me?

e: those search links expire daily it seems ;\

[Liffrea]

Interesting question.

I’m sure that sometimes you can tell a person by their musical tastes just by the fact that many sub-cultures are defined by music e.g. “Goth” but that’s not always the case. I listen 99% of the time to classical music……..stop there and think what kind of image that brings up………was it a 28 year old man living on a run down council estate? Probably not, I would look out of place at the Albert Hall, yet I listen to classical even though I don’t have two pennies to my name, don’t talk posh…..you know the image.

I see classical as art, even noble. I don’t see 80’s British pop music, Indie or “Heathen” metal (the other forms of music I’ll stick) in the same light.

[sturmwalkure]

Interesting point for conversation. Anyone who has seen My Last.fm charts (http://www.last.fm/user/elfaerie/library) which are a mixture of martial-industrial, bubblegum pop, neo-classical, ska, eurodance, reggae, gothic rock, trip-hop, schlager, bossa nova, synth-pop, 8-bit, new-wave, turbo-folk, visual-kei and about anything under the sun I am not sure what people would make of me or what that would tell about me. :confused:

[RoyBatty]

where I live, high school students have this interesting habit of writing the names of their favourite bands on the back of their schoolbags. I remember from my school years, even before getting to know someone, you could have told what kind of guy/girl he/she was: old fashion rocker (Pink Floyd, Deep, Ledz), generic metalhead (Metallica, Irons, AC/DC), Defender (Irons, Manowar, Mercyful Fate), Punkrocker (Pistols, Clash, Damned), Melodic Hardcorer (Nofx, Millencollin, Rancid), Dark (Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus) etc. I've always wondered if kids from the rest of the world do the same thing.

Yes we did in South Africa. My case was covered in names. Particularly the goth and punk groups you mentioned here :)

[Lutiferre]

I don't know if they tell "everything about us". That may be a little radical to claim.

But I think they tell a whole lot about us, yes.

[Octothorpe]

It might be an interesting experiment to poll people at various stages of life, and see what (if any) the changes are in their answers.

When I was in elementary school, I listened to classic rock; in early high school, old-school metal; in late high school, white-boy Texas blues; in early college, the Grateful Dead. Since then, too many changes to count, I'm afraid.

So, could one chart the changes and say something about the musical journey that particular person has taken? Or, are the changes in one's musical tastes too eclectic to be used as a predictor or diagnostic? I'm not sure how to answer that question. Any ideas?

[Lahtari]

Interesting point for conversation. Anyone who has seen My Last.fm charts (http://www.last.fm/user/elfaerie/library) which are a mixture of martial-industrial, bubblegum pop, neo-classical, ska, eurodance, reggae, gothic rock, trip-hop, schlager, bossa nova, synth-pop, 8-bit, new-wave, turbo-folk, visual-kei and about anything under the sun I am not sure what people would make of me or what that would tell about me. :confused:

That you are schizophrenic? Or at least have ADHD? :D

Well, I'm kind of a similar case myself. There is few originators and top artists in every style, and once you've heard them there's no point wasting time on cheap copies. :cool:

[Svipdag]

Surely not EVERYTHING. Yes, my tastes have definitely changed in the past
65 or so years. As a boy I preferred the Romantic composers, Liszt, Chopin,
Grieg, Tschaikowski, Rubinstein, Sibelius , and, of course, Beethoven.

In my 20's I discovered the Baroque and, for a time, would listen to nothing composed after 1760. My favourites then were Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, Corelli, Locatelli, Couperin, Marais, Purcell, et al.

Later, I re-admitted Beethoven and added Mozart and Haydn to the mix. I gradually became more interested in the more intimate styles of chamber music as contrasted with the grander, at times bombastic, styles of symphonies and concerti.

In 1970, I discovered Indian ragas and became madly enamoured of them. I
acquired over 70 LP's, mostly of Hindustani instrumental music. Around the same time, I developed, with the encouragement of a friend, an appreciation for the beauties of opera which I had previously declared to be "the bastard offspring of second-rate music and third-rate drama."

I had never liked Brahms' large-scale works, the symphonies and piano concerti. At 50, I discovered his chamber music and immediately took it to my heart. I could not have appreciated it earlier, so it was fortunate that I discovered it when I did.

Having never learnt to read music, or, at least to have any idea of how it sounded from trying to read the score, I taught myself to read and understand written music at age 40 and soon thereafter wrote a few pieces of bad chamber music and an art song which no one except me has ever tried to sing.

I had a brief flirtation with New Age music in the 1980's and acquired some cassettes of Kitaro and Vangelis. I thought that it had a great future, but it doesn't seem to have developed any further.

In 1977, I built a clavichord and took lessons from harpsichordist, Howard Parsons, for 10 years. In 1999, I bought a harpsichord and took lessons from harpsichordist Nancy Curran, who had, herself, studied under Howard Parsons.
I don't play much lately, largely because I have arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands.

I should also mention that I have liked Dixieland jazz ever since I heard jazz trombonist Turk Murphy live in New York City in 1954.

In the past 20 years, I have come to appreciate, first the chamber music and later the larger works of Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, and Vaughn-Williams.

I guess that the foregoing gives a pretty good idea of my musical tastes and their evolution. What does it tell you about me ?

[Loxias]

I think it tells a lot about the general vision of the world, but not that much about the persons character.

I mostly listen to classical (most particularly Russian composers), metal, experimental music, folk/psychedelia, asian miscellania and 80s pop. I don't think there is that much to deduct from it, since many of those would contradict each other.

[Vulpix]

I was reminded of the following study (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7598549.stm), suggesting a close link:


Musical tastes and personality type are closely related, according to a study of more than 36,000 people from around the world.
The research, which was carried out by Professor Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University, is said to be the largest such study ever undertaken.
It suggested classical music fans were shy, while heavy metal aficionados were gentle and at ease with themselves.
Professor North described the research as "significant" and "surprising".

He said: "We have always suspected a link between music taste and personality. This is the first time that we've been able to look at it in real detail. No-one has ever done this on this scale before."

Prof North said the research could have many uses in marketing, adding: "If you know a person's music preference you can tell what kind of person they are, who to sell to.
"There are obvious implications for the music industry who are are worried about declining CD sales.
"One of the most surprising things is the similarities between fans of classical music and heavy metal. They're both creative and at ease but not outgoing.

"The general public has held a stereotype of heavy metal fans being suicidally depressed and of being a danger to themselves and society in general. But they are quite delicate things."
More than 36,000 people from all over the world were asked to rate 104 musical styles and also questioned about aspects of their personality.


http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5489/bbcnewsukscotlandmusict.png


If anyone is interested here's an unrelated online test (http://www.outofservice.com/music-personality-test/).

[Loxias]

Hmmm, I am not sure I agree with that thing though. I know several jazz musicians/aficionados, and they are everything but of high-self-esteem and outgoing. Otherwise, I don't really know.

[Loddfafner]

Metalheads seem a lot smarter on average than fans of top40. Punks are either really smart, really dumb, or a combination of the two. Discobunnies don't seem to have much inside although sometimes they pretend to.

As for me, oi!, string quartets, and Wagner get the heaviest rotation. Go figure.

[Lutiferre]

Well, I think it's a bit absurd to make that specific claims.

The only thing I deduce is that if you don't like the music I do, then you must be a tard, and therefore gay.

[sturmwalkure]

I was reminded of the following study (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7598549.stm), suggesting a close link:

If anyone is interested here's an unrelated online test (http://www.outofservice.com/music-personality-test/).

I listen to all of the above :D Hmm, it's interesting to know I have high and low self esteem, I am both hard working and not hard working, outgoing and not outgoing, creative and not creative, gentle, introverted, and at ease. :thumb001:

[sturmwalkure]

That you are schizophrenic? Or at least have ADHD? :D

Well, I'm kind of a similar case myself. There is few originators and top artists in every style, and once you've heard them there's no point wasting time on cheap copies. :cool:

Lol, nah. ;) I just happen to enjoy a very broad variety of genres of music. I used to almost exclusively listen to pop [when I was in elementary & middle-school] but once I was in high-school I opened up to a lot more genres. First it was t.A.t.u. [who was pretty much my introduction to electronic and dance music] then Rammstein and Nightwish [who were pretty much my 'introduction' to industrial and metal music]. I still listen to all those artists plus the occasional Britney Spears [I've been listening since 1998, why stop now?] Also there was Tegan & Sara and the Arcade Fire [my introduction to 'indie' music]. And each passing day I am 'discovering' more music.

[anonymaus]

If anyone is interested here's an unrelated online test (http://www.outofservice.com/music-personality-test/).

I took this test. It told me that "aggressive" music like punk and metal were not considered energetic, but the braindead top40 bullshit were; this is why sociology is a fake major. :cool:

[Kazimiera]

---> moved to Psychology