Your better half does not like

**Rick Schmidlin** · Jul-19-2008, 4:14am

I went to see James Taylor tonight

My girlfriend hates his music

She does not like much folk or bluegrass

or Old Timey stuff

all I like

She like's like George Michael,Nek,Prince,Cold Play, Rod Stewert and pop

What does your better half not like.

**8ch(pl)** · Jul-19-2008, 5:31am

I believe the reason my wife never attends the music venues that I play in, is because she does not want her enthuusiastic applause with it's accompanying cheering and whistling to be a distraction to the rest of the audience.

**grassrootphilosopher** · Jul-19-2008, 5:49am

My wife does not like it when I play in the kitchen and anywhere in the appartment the mandolin can be heard as if you are sitting beside it. Talk about carrying power and sound quality. (This goes for my other instruments as well). It indicates that I made wise choices as to what instruments to get. When my wife is busy I tend to not pick. Otherwise I don´t care about her "criticism" and she shrugs off that I would play music all the time when she´s not looking

**JEStanek** · Jul-19-2008, 6:20am

My wife likes the more country Alison Krauss stuff than I do. I'm pretty fortunate, while she may not share the same level of passion or enthusiasm as I do, she generaly likes the same stuff I do. ABBA to Zydeco! She tires easily of the Old Time music I really like in the car often.

She's the one who first pushed me to volunteer at the Philly Folk Fest where I got bitten with the mando bug so it's all kind of her fault.

Jamie

**Rob Powell** · Jul-19-2008, 6:44am

I guess I'm lucky...my wife is open to all kinds of music and we like the same kinds...come to think of it, that's one of the reasons I married her

**BlueMountain** · Jul-19-2008, 8:51am

My wife likes pretty much all the music I like to play on CD, and that's almost entirely mandolin music. She likes bluegrass, swing, etc. She even loves to hear me play the mandolin.

What's weird is that she's played classical viola for forty years (now and then), but when we tried playing together, I found that she was rhythmically challenged. She is completely unable to swing. She likes the music, but can't syncopate it. We compromise by playing hymns together. Then I turn the hymns into bluegrass, and she's lost. I feel sorry for her, as she'd really like to play along. I play in a jazz trio along with a violin, and she'd like to sit in with her viola, but she just can't get the beat. When she tries, the music dies. It's a shame.

**Daniel Wheeler** · Jul-19-2008, 10:42am

Coldplay. Now there's a good band

**Barbara Shultz** · Jul-19-2008, 11:01am

It's time for a female's response!

My man likes mostly to listen to classic rock; I like to listen to and play Old-Time & Irish/Celtic (but we're both pretty open to what we like to listen to..). He doesn't mind listening to my endless practicing (haha), but tires of listening to the same Celtic/Traditional CDs over and over and over in a car trip!

Barb

**Jim MacDaniel** · Jul-19-2008, 11:06am

My wife does not like mandolin

...but thankfully she dislikes the banjo even more.

**steve V. johnson** · Jul-19-2008, 11:35am

My wife, the fabulous Min Gates, is my bandmate in our Irish band and a part-time bandmate in the Lopers. As a percussionist
her time is spot-on.

We both have pretty eclectic music tastes, weighted on the side of acoustic/ethnic... handmade musics. We have a huge
gap in that we rarely listen to contemporary rock music (certainly not 'corporate', but we miss a lot of indie rock, too), but
we hear a fair amount of hip-hop. When I was working in recording studios -everything- came thru the door, so she went
from a casual pop listener to being familiar with whatever music there was on the street. We get along really well musically.
She even likes my Chinese pipa recordings.

In her car CD player are Prince's "The Vault", Afro-Celt Sound System, Tom Waits' "Mule Variations", some archival Marty Robbins
and Bill Monroe stuff and two CDs of lullabies (previewing for our granddaughter) from Africa and Ireland .

She's funky, whatever day it is.

stv

**2manytendons** · Jul-19-2008, 11:37am

I just finished practicing. #Seems when I began, my daughter's radio got turned up, my son went next door to play cards and my husband went out to smoke a cigar...perhaps I just need new strings.

**Doug Hoople** · Jul-19-2008, 11:48am

It was through my wife that I discovered that you CAN listen to too much Stephane Grappelli.

She adores Grappelli, too, so you can only imagine how seriously overplayed he was on my car CD player at the time.

**Daniel Nestlerode** · Jul-19-2008, 12:00pm

My wife likes 80's metal. Hates Bluegrass, OT, Celtic. Wonders how I can stand to listen to all that stuff that "sounds the same song after song."
Doesn't hate the mando, but greatly prefers the guitar. Might have something to do with her painful and aborted violin lessons at the age of 9.
Likes Don Stiernberg's work (we have darn near all of it), likes some of Chris Thile's work. Thinks she wants to learn to play the drums.

Daniel

**John Flynn** · Jul-19-2008, 12:30pm

My wife absolutely hates rap and metal. I am not a fan of those genres either, but I appreciate/tolerate them and even like some of them some of the time. She just cannot abide them. If either comes on TV, she will switch the channel immediately. Fortunately, this is not a problem for us. She really likes 60's classic rock: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, etc. which I like OK, but I have heard every tune so many times it is not my favorite listening anymore. She likes the music I like, old-time and Celtic, although not as much as I do. We both equally like to go to the opera.

**Jim Broyles** · Jul-19-2008, 12:33pm

My wife loves my playing, especially on guitar, and she says she likes most of the music I like, or at least she tolerates it. She claims to like the Beatles #now because of me. She is a little younger than I am, but her tastes tend to be of a "historic" nature with everything. For example, her favorite baseball player#is Grover Cleveland Alexander who broke in in 1911 and died in 1950, twenty years before she was born. Musically, her favorites are Swing Era big band music, the music of George Gershwin and Southern Gospel quartet singing. #I don't care too much for the quartet style stuff, but I like the big band music.

**Chris Biorkman** · Jul-19-2008, 1:13pm

My wife likes Rascal Flatts. (gag)

**fishdawg40** · Jul-19-2008, 1:53pm

My girlfriend of 7 years is pretty understandable about my obsession. She loves Grisman, Hartford and some older bluegrass stuff, oh and she is really getting into The Earl Brothers (if you haven't heard them check them out - The Earl Brothers. However, now she wants to get a banjo...Houston, we have a problem.

**Jim** · Jul-19-2008, 2:04pm

My significant other was until recently half my age and did not care for many of the things I listened to. She listened to 80s and 90s rock for the most part and I will listen to a variety of genre. At first she disliked all things Bluegrass but in 2000 I turned her on to the "lighthouse song" by nickel creek and she came around. Now I know that nickel creek is not High and lonesome enough for some true BG fans but it got her into the genre and now she likes the music and identifies with it's celtic roots but still doesn't like guys singing above their range through their noses. For my own education I have listened to her Yanni CD ( Live at the Acropolis i think) and have to admit he has some good players in his band but I just can't listen to her sound track of Cats, I enjoyed it on stage but to me the sound track is fingernails on a chalkboard. I have also transposed many of my BG pieces as well as others to different keys that were not such a strain on my voice with her encouragement and now they sound better to me to. I have to say she never asked me to go to a George michael concert,( I love her but I don't know if I could have done it) In the beginning about the only music we had in common was Dream Theater.

**Eddie Sheehy** · Jul-19-2008, 7:02pm

If I need to find a household chore that my wife need me to do, all I have to do is pick up a mandolin....

**Lee Callicutt** · Jul-19-2008, 8:37pm

Tremolo.

**squidbrain** · Jul-19-2008, 9:59pm

My wife hates it that I will whistle a tune over and over again without realizing what I am doing. She may have a point.

**Joel Spaulding** · Jul-19-2008, 10:55pm

My wife actually encouraged me to take up Mando as a serious endeavor. She probably now is in a state of deep regret - not because she despises it but because our lives now seem to revolve around Mandolins

.

"I am a Lighthouse" was also the song that opened her up to 'grass-type music. I have a feeling she won't really dig the Punch Bros.in Louisville nearly as much, but she will appreciate the musicianship.

She doesn't care for "high lonesome" material or "twangy/nasally" BG. (She associates this as "her mama's music") We went to a BG festival in Vine Grove, KY last year. We missed Cherryholmes but caught iiird Tyme out and about 3 other bands. She wanted to know why "all the bands wearing blue suits played all the same songs" (Orange Blossom Special by THREE diffent bands) - I had no good reply.

**buddyellis** · Jul-19-2008, 11:06pm

Originally Posted by (doughoople @ July 19 2008, 12:48)

It was through my wife that I discovered that you CAN listen to too much Stephane Grappelli.

She adores Grappelli, too, so you can only imagine how seriously overplayed he was on my car CD player at the time.

No. No such thing as too much grap or jango. Infidel.

**Capt. E** · Jul-20-2008, 8:49am

My biggest musical conflict with my wife is my Cajun accordion. She likes Cajun music, but it is so very loud next to the Mandolin. Also, no one likes listening to someone practice...same line over and over, refining it...can drive the listener crazy. I need to get her playing an instrument of some kind.