To add on to this fact, I was forced to play the piano for over 8 years. I hated playing the piano, I would regularly cry as I practiced, my parents forced me to use an abacus to record the number of times I would play each piece. Move a bead from one side to the other when I finished a repetition. I had piano practice every Friday after school, during the practice my teacher would correct my mistakes and remind me time and time again to use a metronome to stay with the time signature. But the use of a metronome made my flaws more obvious and would make my parents make me practice more so I ignored the advice. Twice a year my piano teacher would hold a recital amongst his students. We would choose a piece play it in front of a crowd of parents and siblings. These recitals were the most stressful thing, I would often make mistakes and once was even forced to restart my piece. Clearly, all these events put a bad taste in my mouth regarding classical music and made me think I disliked all music.
It wasn’t until I entered High School did I learn about the various types of music and found artists that I enjoyed. I pivotal moment was when my friends introduced me to Kanye. Kanye was an artist, unlike anything I had heard before, his combination of samples and beats together with his often deep and thought-provoking lyrics was an amazing combination. Since then my music taste has expanded enormously, I have found various genres that I love and even was able to find a music to compromise with my parents and find better music to play when we drive. I hope that in the future I will refine my music taste but at the same time keep my ears open to any new artists or genres I might enjoy.
I'm glad to hear you were able to find some music you liked and also find a middle ground between the music tastes of your parents and yourself. My exposure to music when I was young was mostly through my parents as well, although they would turn on the radio in the car so I was exposed to popular music through that. However I really enjoyed the music my parents played (stuff that was popular when they were growing up, 70's and 80's) and to this day I think it has had a profound impact on my music taste. I think part of it was that they had a wide variety of music they enjoyed. The only new genre I've really started listening to is rap, and although I enjoy some of Kanye's music I prefer Kendrick Lamar. One downside about the variety they introduced me to is that I have trouble explaining my taste in music. I don't really have a favorite artist, and certainly not a favorite song. I'm sure there are certain kinds of music I enjoy more than others, I just don't know how to express it in words.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little all I knew was my parents' music too. And when it was all that I knew I thought it was good and I'd listen to it, but once my sister started listening to the radio when she was in middle school, I was exposed to newer music and like you primarily listen to newer music now (though, I still like some of the music my parents like). I did not have a wholly similar experience to you with piano, but for a while I really didn't enjoy practicing. It wasn't until high school that I started to actually enjoy playing. Being able to pick a lot more of my own music helped with liking playing much more.
ReplyDeleteMy relationship with music has also been a rocky road. My dad listens to smooth jazz and my mom listens to anything that will keep her awake (typically hip-hop or anything with a fast beat). Right now, I have a youtube playlist of about 90 songs. It has anything from slow jams by Daniel Caesar, to "Vintage" Kanye West, to Desiigner, to the "Temptations". It just shows how someones music taste can change based on mood and circumstances
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