How Much Do You Listen To (Recorded) Music?

[man dough nollij]

Obviously all of us here on the Cafe are into music in one form or another. I'm curious-- how much do you actually listen to music?

I never got into playing till I was 40 or so. The previous 40 years I was into all sorts of different music, from punk to classical. I have hundreds of CDs. Weird thing is-- I almost never listen to music these days.

I love catching YouTube clips of performers doing OT, BG, and ITM. I would say I watch on average ten or twelve YouTube clips a day. I'm very curious about music, technique, theory, tone-- a bunch of things about it.

I work in a very quiet office with one other guy, and we NEVER have tunes on. If I listen to an MP3 or a YT clip, I put my headphones on.

I know a lot of people who constantly have music on. I'm not one. I think a big part of it is the music I constantly have playing in my head. There is almost literally no time that I'm not hearing music in my head, so I don't feel the need to play it into my ears (unless I'm trying to dislodge a particularly bad (Billy Joel) earworm. See the ear worm thread...).

I think another reason I don't listen to a lot of recorded music is that when I listen to music I like to really listen to it. The concept of "background music" means nothing to me. I love to go on long road trips where I totally get into the tunes, but for me it just doesn't make sense to jam out while working. If I hear any song with lyrics, my brain doesn't know how not to follow along. It's almost impossible for me to read or write while listening to a song with vocals. Irritating, in fact. Maybe other people have better ability at shutting the lyrics out, or just have more brain cells left to listen and do other things...

I consider myself to be a talented multi-tasker. I can switch from one thought, conversation, or activity to another quickly and seamlessly. I have discovered that (for me) there is really no such thing as multi-tasking-- there is just quick alternate-tasking, and it generally degrades from the quality of all the tasks. The reason I bring this up is that listening to music while writing, reading, or other high-concentration activities takes away from the music and the task, so I usually work in silence.

I'm very curious how other musically-inclined folks are in this regard. :confused:

[Ivan Kelsall]

Lee - I listen & 'play along to' recorded Bluegrass music for up to 4 hours a day. That's the only way i've had to teach myself Mandolin,exactly the way i did it 46 years back on Banjo,when that was the ONLY option in the UK. Like you,i always seem to have some 'head music' going on,whether it's Bluegrass or some tune i've mentally keyed into.
My musical tastes run from Classical music,Italian Opera all the way through to Heavy Metal - as long as it's MUSICAL & not just a thrash.When i have a serious listening session,if they can hear it,my next door neighbours must think i'm musically schizo.!. I can go from Bach,to Buddy Holly,to Bluegrass,to Beethoven in the space of half an hour & then some more. If i could play all the instruments i'd like to,i'd be a one man orchestra,believe me. I've been to literally hundreds of orchestral recitals given by Manchester's Halle Orchestra & visiting orchestras, & recitals by many of the world's leading instrumentalists. Listening to a full orchestra,in 'full flow' is an experience which i find overwhelming & i sincerely wish i could be a part of it,but they don't have 'Banjer pickers' in orchestras - drat !!!,
Ivan :grin:

[Rick Schmidlin]

I play more then I listen.

[woodwizard]

I usually switch back and forth from oldtime music and bluegrass. I like to download and listen to live show recordings alot. There are some good live show recordings out there that people have taped. Vintage & fairly recent ones of all our heroes. So ... I would say I personally listen to recorded music a whole bunch especially in the car driving. Nothings close in Arkansas. You spend a lot of time driving.

[Jill McAuley]

Like Rick, I probably play more than I listen - but I do still make sure to listen as much as I can because I find it allows me to learn a new tune in a very short space of time because I'm so familiar with it.

Cheers,
Jill

[barney 59]

I almost never have "background" music playing. I listen alot to old lp's and cd's but only when I can listen. I have a set up to rerecord lp's and make into cds - things I want to practice and play along with. It's a great time we live in for all that stuff--lots of ways to find good music and lots of ways to play it.

[JEStanek]

I'm the opposite, I have background music or listen to music while I work/drive all day. It's mood altering and pace setting. I hate the earbuds, they're uncomfortable and have bad bass response. I prefer the older over ear headphones (now at reasonable volumes). My two favorite recent inventions are the digital SLR camera and the iPod.

I play the mandolin because I like to make some of my own music.

Jamie

[Herzen]

I spend quite alot of time in the car, so I listen at least an hour or two every day. I'm always looking for new music to try. Fortunately I own enough to satisfy most of my needs whatever genre I'm in the mood for.

[Fretsman]

I am a music junkie, guitar orientated, from Jim Croce to Cream, Don't like kiddie speed metal or goth stuff, I maintain a library and have thousands of CD's and just over 1,000 DVD's, most of which I chase down, but loads that gets lost in the rack and neglected.
I listen mostly when driving unless I'm in a news or talk radio mood. I work 12 hr shifts and have 4 computers to monitor, before the last change-out I could watch my DVD's on them, no more.... Boooo.
At home I play and like others love to play along with stuff and try to fit in and create along with the established. Music good!

[Soupy1957]

I always did my best learning from recorded music, as well as at "Jams."

[Frank Johnson]

I listen more than I play. Don't always have the opportunity to play when I'm out amongst the people during my day. I often put something in a CD player that I keep in the garage when I'm piddling around, grilling, or washing vehicles. I like the background. And, like some of the others, the music isn't always bluegrass. Might very well be Stevie Ray Vaughn, Johnny Cash, Credence Clearwater Revival, Beatles, Bob Segar, or even Led Zepplin.

[John Flynn]

I listen a fair amount: In the car, while I'm working, when I'm on a plane. It's hard to say how much exactly and it varies, but it's more time than I spend playing. I listen to Irish/Scots trad and old-time pretty much exclusively, although in the past I steeped myself in classic rock, folk, country and opera.

[journeybear]

I used to listen to music a lot more than I do now, though I have been taking steps to change that - lately, loading CDs into my computer, where I spend a lot more time these days ... :popcorn: Perhaps not really having a stereo setup at the moment has something to do with this :whistling: and I have been listening here or via my DVD player, as I did yesterday while cleaning and changing strings on two instruments.

I've come and gone with listening to music over the years, often affected by radio. I first heard rock and roll on the school bus - the driver had a transistor radio - and kept fascinated through the 60s and well into the 70s, until disco and metal drove me away. This actually helped my songwriting - I began writing the kind of music I wished radio would play, and this has informed my writing ever since. I got into country in the early 80s, then lost interest again as I began playing music more.

Toward the end of the decade I discovered Kate Bush, whom I found utterly fascinating, and researching her earlier albums gave me a lot to listen to. By the mid-90s I wasn't playing so much, kind of lost the bug, but I thought I could apply my love of music and writing ability to help those trying to make a go of it. I began a music journalism career, writing for two publications in CT, and discovered a world of great music operating beyond most peoples' awareness. I was able to find and listen to great music being produced by fairly unknown independent musicians, a tremendously enlightening and rewarding experience. Some of these artists make up the core of what I still listen to today, and if I may mention a few ... Patti Rothberg, Lucinda Williams, Heather Nova, Amy Rigby, Sara Hickman, Maria McKee/Lone Justice, The Nields, Ani DiFranco, Greg Brown, Martin Sexton, Sarah McLachlan, Cheri Knight/Blood Oranges ... well, that's just a few. If you've noticed a female slant here, well, it's true - at the time it seemed male musicians had grown lazy, recycling tried-and-true formulas, while female artists were trying harder and being more creative, and had nicer voices as well. ;) Turns out I was slightly ahead of the curve for once, as Lilith Fair came along a couple of years later and helped validate my beliefs.

My CD collection grew rapidly, I devoted a lot of driving time listening to music, and it seemed sometimes I couldn't keep up with the influx of music. I devised a rule of thumb to deal with music I was reviewing - the first five rule. An album had to grab me in the first five songs or else ... buh-bye. There were exceptions, of course, as sometimes that #5 could be a clunker - one memorable example was a #2 clunker, though the rest of the album was great - and I would give more latitude to artists I already liked, but sometime this really helped streamline the process.

After 7-8 years of this, though, I began to feel it was time to get back to my brilliant career as a musician, and then 9/11 made it clear that life was short and arbitrary and the time to make life the way I wanted it to be was now. So everything went into storage except my instruments and gear and a few favorite CDs, and off I went to Key West, the only place I've ever been able to support myself with music. These days I scour yard sales for CDs, DVDs, and VHS, and every now and then find some good stuff - today I picked up a couple of Avril Lavigne CDs I didn't know existed, so there's that to look forward to - and have built up a modest collection to supplement the main collection. I look at this from time to time, and wonder why I bother with all this when I don't spend anywhere near the time required to listen to this to actually listening to it. I blame Elton John, who once said he collects music voraciously and hopes to find time to listen to it all when he retires. Someday I plan to do the same, and try to chip away at this meanwhile. I used to listen a bit more when I was driving, though for the past year I was listening to my Bunky & Jake/Jake And The Family Jewels tape over and over - such delightful stuff, I just left in in the tape deck - until my car went kerphlooey around St. Patrick's Day. Now that I'm biking exclusively, travel time is quiet time, or sometimes, vocal practice time.

But since I discovered amazon and ebay and online purchasing and the concept of on-demand listening (as opposed to the randomness of radio), I've increased my listening somewhat. For instance, I got to thinking about The Lovin' Spoonful a few months ago, and picked up their first three albums - now on CD with bonus tracks - which I've been enjoying revisiting tremendously. Being able to seek out and obtain the music I like has rekindled my interest in listening, though I still rarely spend more than an hour or two listening a day.

Gee, I could have just said that in the first place ... :whistling:

[Marcus CA]

Growing up, one of my favorite experiences was taking a rich piece of music and listening to it through headphones in order to really hear what was going on. I still clearly remember the first time I listened to "Chestnut Mare" through headphones and discovered that that wall of sound was an increasing number of layers of Roger McGuinn and Clarence White guitar tracks that were masterfully interwoven.

I rarely get to do that any more. Maybe if I spent less time at work and on websites like this...

Seriously, music adds a richness to life that everyone on this site can obviously detect. Like man dough, I can't read or write with it playing, either. However, I'll converse with it softly in the background or work, cook with it moderately in the background, and clean house or drive with it loudly in the foreground. I also will gladly borrow an undiscovered cd from someone any chance I get.

[Rick Schmidlin]

For instance, I got to thinking about The Lovin' Spoonful a few months ago, and picked up their first three albums - now on CD with bonus tracks - which I've been enjoying revisiting tremendously.

Now try Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band.

[journeybear]

Now try Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band.

Been there, done that (read some of my posts), but yeah, don't have anything of theirs on CD.

All purchases currently on hold, having recently made an extravagant one, until further notice, or until I get a new roommate. Hoo boy, this place is 'spensive! :disbelief:

[Charley wild]

Years ago my banjo teacher told me that his formula for learning the banjo was two hours of listening to one hour of practice. This wasn't a hard fast rule he was just making a point. I agree. I've learned a lot by listening. More actually when I'm just plain listening not listening to learn so to speak. I still listen to music at least two hours a day if not more. Not all Bluegrass by any means. I like various types of music.

[JeffD]

I listen to music all the time. It is even sometimes mandolin music, though not usually.

I listen two ways, sitting forward i.e. really listening, and sitting back, i.e. background music while I do other things. Its the same music either way, and infact I find that the sitting back music will make its way into my subconscious (where ever that is) and soon enough I will be able to pick the tunes a bit on the mandolin.

Right now my sitting forward music is the fiddle playing of Tommy Jarrel on the one hand and the classical string quartet repertory on the other. Sitting back music is my ipod full of OT music, and what ever is on WETA classical music radio on the other. (WETA does the best job of playing the exact piece of classical music you were in the mood for and didn't know it. Just amazing how their music throughout the day matches what I want to hear.)

[SGraham]

Lee:
You're describing something real close to what goes on in my own head. When I listen to music, I really LISTEN. It's not that I chose to; it's that I can almost never do otherwise. For me, to not listen/analyze/visualize how it's played/consider the implications of the lyrics/etc, would be like reading with my mind disengaged or having a conversation without paying attention to what the other party is saying.

For me, listening to music is a whole lot like reading a book. I've heard it said that reading consists of the reader and the writer meeting and making meaning together on a bridge of words. I think listening to music is like that too, with a few more distractions thrown in, in the form of arrangement, instrumentation, and quality of performance. I read more than I listen. With reading, I have a choice of what I pick up and look at. With music, however, I increasingly don't have that choice. I'm having that "meeting" with the composer whether I like it or not. Quite often it's "not."
Department store music can absolutely drive me crazy. When my neighbors across the street start thumping their head-banger music, my attention gets sucked right in. I can't NOT listen. I think it's some kind of birth defect.

Playing music, though, I find absolutely refreshing. It's a deeper experience than merely listening.

Having said all that, I think I'd be a better player if I listened more.

[onassis]

These days, I play more often than I listen to music. In fact, 2/3 of the time I spend "listening to music", I'm sitting on the couch, playing along on the mando. Occasionally on the guitar. Not seriously practicing, just playing along.

At work, there's typically music playing, but it's just background to me. I don't really care what plays, as long as it's not too distracting. My partner is just the opposite, he HAS to have music playing at all times, and is picky about what plays, can't stand the radio. He doesn't play nearly as much as I do.

I don't have either CD or ipod capability in the truck, but I don't really care to listen to music while driving these days anyway. I've gotten to where I prefer singing to myself or just making up tunes in my head. It seems like the more I play and the better I am able to express myself musically, the more I enjoy listening to my OWN music. I still love discovering new stuff, and am inspired by it, but it's not usually long before I'm picking up the mando and playing along.

[man dough nollij]

For me, listening to music is a whole lot like reading a book.


Exactly! I would never try to read a great book and listen to my favorite music at the same time. The switching back and forth book-music-book-music would detract from both.

I'm glad to hear others' experience with this. It tends to lend credence to the theory that I'm not completely insane...:confused:

[Coffeecup]

When younger the house seemed empty if the radio wasn't on. Now it goes off after an hour or two - the bird songs in the surrounding bush are much nicer. Sorry Lee, I guess that doesn't apply to penguins.

Rarely do I listen to CDs at home but they're always in the car. Many of my trips are about an hour in length and that's when I do most of my song learning or singing practice. At home, Youtube clips are great to concentrate on a specific technique but I'm just as likely to use a midi file to learn a new tune.

[Mike Snyder]

All my cds were stolen about four years ago. I'm so PO'd about it that I've bought very few since.
I listen to NPR during drive time, and was happily rewarded by a scorching tune by Del and the boys on Prarie Home Companion tonite. It had to be the Loar. Sounded like it was about to knock the mikestand over. So I gotta bite the bullet and replace all the cds I can't live without.
Fleck/Drive- O'Brien-Long list CSNY-Deja' Vu- Zappa-Weasels Ripped My Flesh.........sigh.

[journeybear]

Geez, what a drag. When my van was broken into and they stole my wallet and cell phone and - hey, check this out, looks like some kind of guitar - my late, lamented F-12, :crying: they also took my car CD player, a gift from my brother. :mad: The CD that was in it - Fleming & John - The Way We Are - was something I happened to have a copy of, and fortunately they didn't bother to take the autographed jewel box, nor the rest of the CDs. But I did have to get another player for the 1500 mile drive back ...

Anyway, it so happens I just recently got done adding my ex-roommate's Mothers/Zappa collection to my computer, including WRMF. If it were mine, I'd send it to you. Hmmm ... I wonder if he'd notice it was missing ... :whistling:

[Mike Snyder]

Thanks for the kind thought, bear, I'm good. The loss has caused me to boil it down to essence, what I really cannot do without. Turns out a pretty eclectic playlist. From Stones- Let It Bleed to Miles Davis- Kind of Blue to Bill Monroe- well, anything instrumental. I'll end up with at least one Zappa, but it's got to have Peaches en Regalia on it. My truck has a cassette player thats shot, so thats a whole box of them I don't listen to anymore either. CD player part's still good. God bless NPR.

[kmiller1610]

In the car and while writing. I use fast mandolin music as a kind of audio caffeine when I'm tired and driving to or from a gig. More thoughtful string music is great as a background to writing.

[jim_n_virginia]

I play more than I listen and rarely do I have time to kick back with headphones and REALLY listen. Usually I have it on at the gym on headset or mostly in my truck because I do a lot of driving around.

And many times I'll listen because I am trying to learn the tune so I am listening to parts of a song or tune through the computer usually through a slow down program.

I think Bluegrass music makes the BEST background music while driving.

I mean who could resist SPEEDING with Foggy Mountain Breakdown playing in the background while driving in a beat up pickup truck! :))

[Jim MacDaniel]

...The concept of "background music" means nothing to me...

I couldn't agree more. If music is present, regardless of genre or performance quality, something in it always steals my attention. For that reason I cannot listen to music while working or reading, or at bedtime. It may the the lead instruments, percussion section, vocals, or melody itself, but something in the music typically forces me to focus on it. However, sometimes it might be something negative in the recording that captures my attention, such as poor production qualities, or someone playing an instrument particularly badly -- such as someone "playing" the hamonica in the manner of Bob Dylan. (Curse him for giving license to all subsequent singer-songwriters to pick up and pass wind through that potentially-beautiful-yet-more-often-than-not-cringe-inducing instrument!)

[EggyToast]

For me it depends on the music. For a lot of music that mandolin typically appears in, I actually don't like listening to recorded songs. To me, a lot of "porch music" is just that, music that's best heard when played with friends or when you're relaxing (or both ;D).

Most of the stuff I regularly listen to, which is usually 4-6 hours w/ headphones at work at a minimum, has some level of studio trickery and is decidedly modern, despite being broad. But I do fall into the same category as others here in that when I listen to a song, even muzak at a store, I tend to pay attention to it, analyzing a lick or hook or drum pattern, often thinking to myself "ah, that's how they're doing it on this song." But because of the disconnect of musical styles I typically don't have any inclination to play along with songs or to emulate their styles on the two instruments I play, rather focusing on solo work on technique. It works for me.

[Jack Roberts]

I don't really have time to listen to recorded music. Once in a while I can when I'm driving, but other than that I only listen to recordings of music I want to learn to play.

[Tim Bowen]

All day long, every day. Beatles, Debussy, Carter Family, ABBA, Schubert, Jeff Beck, Merle Travis, Chopin, Stones, Bob Wills, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Leadbelly, Patsy Cline, Dylan, Neil Young, Mahler, Miles Davis, Badfinger, Thelonius Monk, Big Star, Madonna, The Band, Flatt & Scruggs, White Stripes, Elton John, Richard Thompson, Buddy Miller, Taj Mahal, Yes, AC/DC, Brahms, Henry Mancini, Hank Williams, The Who, Robert Johnson, Aimee Mann, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, most anything that I dig.

After I get home from a long day of music, I want - music.

[Chris Rogers]

Relatively new to bluegrass, so trying to make up for lost time absorbing and learning from recordings. But I don't have that much of my own, so I make up for it by putting a bluegrass station on Pandora and just letting the randomness of it expose me to all kinds of great, new (to me) artists, and try to play along with all of it. When something really grabs, then over to itunes for a purchase.

I guess I could say Pandora is my teacher's first name.

[Dan Hoover]

ever since i was a wee little pup..there's all ways been a radio playing..everywhere...i remember my grandmother playing mancini to sam cooke..my cousins dancing to the supremes.. i grew into collecting records then cd's..i really don't even want to count them all..but it is raining today...again...armstrong,callas,beatles,cream,viv aladi,simone,GRISMAN..louis prima..don't know where to stop..but lately we have sirius satellite music playing most the time,mostly listen to channel Disorder,very eclectic..love the Idiots Delight Show..maybe i should be practicing more?

[Chris Keth]

I listen to recorded music every single day. Some days, such as when I spend a lot of time in the car, I'll listen for nearly the whole day.

[man dough nollij]

I used to work with a guy who once was a professional musician, and was in Boulder, CO, working in a print shop for some reason. I asked him what he thought about the up-and-coming band Journey, and he said he had never heard of them. He said if he had time for music, he'd be playing rather than listening. That was my first exposure to the idea that musicians don't listen to music, which is apparently wrong. Who knew?

[kristallyn]

I listen to cd s in the car, and when I m traveling alone use them to practise my harmony singing
at home I only really use cd s to practise the mandoline at the moment, I try to find the key the song is in and than improvise or try to play some chop chords if not to fast LOL

at nights when I am not in my studio with one of the bands I like to watch music dvd's of all kinds of styles and artists
my latest one is alison krauss and union station which I enjoyed a lot ( not a lot of mandolin but still a very nice concert)

[Nighttrain]

I'm on the road full time (about 2500 miles a week) so I listen to a lot of music. I listen to everything from jazz to country to bluegrass to rock. always trying to find that elusive sound that that I have been chasing since the early 60's. I don't however listen to cd's much these days, mostly my iPod or satellite radio.

[Brandon Flynn]

I listen to an hour a day at least. Usually a classical piece or two that will take up 30min and another album or two.

And I agree with the background music sentiment. I am unable to do if it is good or interesting music, it distracts me. I think listening can make any music creating you do better. I'm a music composition major, and I believe that the more I listen to, the more ideas I will have. I will never stop searching out new music and taking it in.

[Brandon Flynn]

All day long, every day. Beatles, Debussy, Carter Family, ABBA, Schubert, Jeff Beck, Merle Travis, Chopin, Stones, Bob Wills, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Leadbelly, Patsy Cline, Dylan, Neil Young, Mahler, Miles Davis, Badfinger, Thelonius Monk, Big Star, Madonna, The Band, Flatt & Scruggs, White Stripes, Elton John, Richard Thompson, Buddy Miller, Taj Mahal, Yes, AC/DC, Brahms, Henry Mancini, Hank Williams, The Who, Robert Johnson, Aimee Mann, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, most anything that I dig.


You dig a lot of the same stuff as me, very good taste my friend.

[Daci]

I listen to recorded music sometimes, at least once a week. Mainly The Thistle & Shamrock on PBS,also some Celtic CD's I have and Celtic music on Last FM. I enjoy it most when I'm doing some digital art in the Gimp.
I really am not into modern music,so I never listen to typical radio stations.

[Laurence Firth]

Pretty much every day. I'm always investigating something new - usually related to whatever I'm reading at the time (music related reading might be history or bio etc) but not always. The music I'm listening to might be jazz, blues, acoustic (I don't use the term "folk"), bluegrass, or OT. Sometimes I can sit and really listen (deeply) - other times I might be doing a chore and just grooving to the music to make my work go faster (cooking dinner or house cleaning etc). I believe that listening is an important part of my music study and helps my playing. A couple of the people in my band / jam group hardly ever listen to recorded music. Hence there is a lot of stuff they have never heard. I think it shows in their playing but I'm kind of biased since I always encourage everyone to listen more. Nothing beats live music for me though. I try to go out and hear live music at least once a week. I try to practice / play every day - even if its just for an hour. My band/jam gets together once a week on Sundays to play.
:mandosmiley:

[man dough nollij]

I just had an "aha! moment" about this topic. I found that I'm frequently moved to tears by music, and that might account for why I don't listen to it much in public. Driving alone in the car, I can have all the emotions I want, but at work it's awkward. I picked up this clip from facebook today. It's a very simple, familiar tune, but it (for some reason) made me cry like a baby. Anyone else experience that?

[onassis]

I used to work with a guy who once was a professional musician, and was in Boulder, CO, working in a print shop for some reason. I asked him what he thought about the up-and-coming band Journey, and he said he had never heard of them. He said if he had time for music, he'd be playing rather than listening. That was my first exposure to the idea that musicians don't listen to music, which is apparently wrong. Who knew?

In '89, I was washing dishes for a living in a high-end restaurant. The Sunday night chef was also a local guitar legend who would sit in with touring acts that needed a guitar slinger. He didn't like to listen to music while we worked. In fact, he didn't even own a stereo! Artists who wanted his services would send tapes of their arrangements, and he'd have to bring them to work and listen to them in the kitchen. And one time through always seemed to be enough. To me, it was crazy! He seemed to just be into playing music, not so much into listening to it. Some kind of savant?:confused: I dunno.

[Joel Spaulding]

Lee, I will admit to being somewhat sensitive to the emotional content of most music. To me, that is perhaps the number-one reason I play. Music can convey incredible emotion without lyrics....Magical.

Even if one has never encountered a particular style, that music can have a profound effect. Horror films without soundtracks become comedies, the Summer Olympics without Bugler's Dream is just a HS track meet (to me :) )

Your chosen video is one of those songs that has tugged on me since childhood. Add any version of Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas to my list of songs I can't hear in public :redface:

As to listening to recorded music - yes, everyday. Like many here, I have to be able to listen, mostly undistracted or I tend to go a bit insane. My "background" radio tends to be of the talk variety: NPR, Local programs,political commentary from left and right, Coast to Coast AM at night. ~:>

[Skip Kelley]

I listen all the time. Tony Rice said to listen to as much music as you can when not playing. Hear what is going on. I listen to the chords. Hear the difference in the chord shapes, listen to the notes. Are they open strings or fretted? Hear what is going on. It makes a difference.

[fishdawg40]

He seemed to just be into playing music, not so much into listening to it. Some kind of savant?:confused: I dunno.

I don't get that sentiment at all. I listen to all kinds of music not only to learn but for enjoyment and escape, I guess. I'm back to collecting records and there's nothing better than putting on an album and just sitting back. That's something I really try to do everyday. Just listen and don't analyze. Brings back that mystery.

I knew a visual artist and she didn't like going to museums or looking at other art. I thought that was very narrow; who needs Van Gogh when there's me. But to each their own.

[mandocrucian]

http://robert.armst.net/comics/mickeyrat2a.jpg

[Tim Bowen]

You dig a lot of the same stuff as me, very good taste my friend.

Hey, thanks. I figure music is a bit like food; there's so much good stuff out there to sample, so why not indulge in a little bit of everything!

[Tim Bowen]

In glancing over the thread, I see some listening habits and approaches that are similar to mine.

I like to think that I sometimes listen to music for pure pleasure (like a layman would), and while I do enjoy music for the pure sake of it, if I'm honest with myself, I'd have to admit that there's always a peripheral agenda, at the very least, whether I invite it or not. That is, when I listen to music, I can't help but assimilate whatever tweaks my ear in a pleasant way, toward the possibility of bringing some fresh ideas toward my own arrangements of tunes. Textures, interesting chord progressions and choices of notes, tones, dynamics, production values, choices of instrumentation, et al - I can't help but soak the stuff up and be at least subliminally influenced by it. At the moment, I'm sort of on a pop rock kick (perhaps because I've been doing sessions for a pop rocord over the last two weeks?), and I'm really into listening to Aimee Mann's records right now (which some might label as being "over-produced" - I think they sound great). Anyway, I'm currently fascinated with the production values and instrumentation that producers Jon Brion and Michael Lockwood have brought to her records.

Like Kristallyn, I use CD's to work on my harmony vocals relentlessly, particularly for cover tunes that I'll be doing live. I've had a few that were really challenging lately (notably Beatles and Everly Bros. covers). With these, I set the CD player for 'repeat', and it's not unusual for me to sing along a couple of dozen times in repetition with the tune in question. I usually do it in the morning with coffee or in the evening with a cocktail, instead of watching television.

For most of the sessions that I do, I'm able to secure a CD of either a bare bones sketchbook idea or a rough mix of the basics form the client in advance of my date(s). So what I do is to listen several times until ideas begin to present themselves. After a few listens, I start to develop some sense of arrangement and instrumentation, and I'll start scat-singing a few melodies here and there, and then I'll start picking up instruments and fleshing it out. Occasionally, a tune will call for just picking up an instrument and hacking away at it, but I'd have to say that the bulk of my better arragement ideas have first happened in my head, as a direct result of intensive listening. Along the same lines, I think my arrangement ideas are progressively incremental; what I mean is that some of the textures that I hear early on with a bare bones rough mix will no longer apply as other musicians add their bits. I did a lap steel session a few days back, and will likely add a few more embellishments with some sort of instrumentation to the tune before all is said and done... however, I won't make the same choices now as I would've in listening to the early roughs, simply due to the contributions of other musicians since that time.

I think it's safe to say that my favorite musicians are avid/borderline junky listeners, and are arrangers at heart.

[onassis]

My main playing partner/musical conspirator is a Pandora junkie. Before work, at lunch, after work, all evening long, he's on Pandora, waiting for something to catch his ear. He's set up a couple dozen stations, so if a song isn't doing it for him and he's out of fast-forwards, he just hits a fresh station. I don't have that kind of focus or patience, but it's ok, 'cause he's constantly giving me mix cd's of the stuff he likes! I tend to mute the TV (I know,.. I know,.. but I like the visual stimulation!), put on the cd's, and pick along 'til I come up with something I like. This seems to sum up most of my listening these days: pickin' along with and fittin' myself in.

[JeffD]

[QUOTE=man dough nollij;675470]I picked up this clip from facebook today. It's a very simple, familiar tune, but it (for some reason) made me cry like a baby. Anyone else experience that?
QUOTE]

It happens when the music is this good. Wow.

Upon listening to it again I am struck with how she has managed to do four really cool things:

Create her own take on the tune (song)

Honor the original tune

Avoid the pyrotechnical excursions that draw attention to own skill, i.e. keep the attention on the tune

Show off her talent through restraint of its use.


Just wonderful, thanks for linking it.

[Phil Sussman]

I don't deliberately listen to music as much as I used to. If I put on a cd, I usually can't resist attempting to play along with it. When I get on a kick to improve my playing, I'd rather play than listen. I'm more interested in practicing the mandolin lately than in just listening. Then again, all those wonderful Youtube clips that folks share on this board are nice, and introduce me to new things. I also have 50 years worth of music playing in my head all the time.

[Link]

I regularly listen to classical music (the broad definition). Some of my favorite composers include Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Beethoven, and Hindemith.

I listen to almost no popular music. However, I've recently gotten into neo-classical and symphonic metal (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, anyone?).

[Denny Gies]

When not listening to NPR I do listen to recorded music, mostly bluegrass with some John Prine, Paul Thorn and Mary Gauthier mixed in. It is also fun to play along with a couple of favorite CD's like Grisman's Home Is Where The Heart Is and the Dreadful Snakes CD.