# advice about music for your younger self



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Here is my advice for my younger self: 

1. Buy less and listen to what you have more times.

2. When you do buy, begin with the most famous recordings of the most famous music. Don't buy stuff just because it's cheap and you're poor; save your money and get the good stuff. Don't chase everything you see mentioned on the internet. 

What is your advice for your younger self?


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Find what rocks you and stick with it.


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

Don't believe Classic.FM when they tell you that Karl Jenkins's "Armed Man" and Howard Shore's "Lord of the Rings" are masterpieces of modernism.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

science said:


> Here is my advice for my younger self:
> 
> 1. Buy less and listen to what you have more times.
> 
> 2. When you do buy, begin with the most famous recordings of the most famous music. Don't buy stuff just because it's cheap and you're poor; save your money and get the good stuff...


Let me second those. And for me I would add:

2a. In buying the most famous music, consider buying recent performances. This helps support working artists who are often struggling to make a living and keep this artform alive. (i.e. don't let your money just support record companies who are constantly recycling old performances in their archives).

3. Spend at least 10% of what you spend on contemporary composers (whatever the style that appeals to you).


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Don't be afraid!

Contemporary music is not dangerous!

Listen more!

Buy more records!

Attend more concerts!

Have fun!

(Girls who dig Classical Music are better mates!)

/ptr


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

ptr said:


> Don't be afraid!
> 
> Contemporary music is not dangerous!
> 
> ...


Yeah...and dinosaurs make better pets....if you can find one.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Yeah...and dinosaurs make better pets....if you can find one.


Please send a dinosaur my way! Or even better, a megalodon for my fish tank!

/ptr


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

hpowders said:


> Yeah...and dinosaurs make better pets....if you can find one.


It's true!

View attachment 49623


You can even eat dinosaurs.

View attachment 49624


Delicious!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Alypius said:


> 2a. In buying the most famous music, consider buying recent performances. This helps support working artists who are often struggling to make a living and keep this artform alive. (i.e. don't let your money just support record companies who are constantly recycling old performances in their archives).


Not my problem!

If they want to sell me records, they can record music that hasn't been recorded thirty times already.



Alypius said:


> 3. Spend at least 10% of what you spend on contemporary composers (whatever the style that appeals to you).


Like that!


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Yes, birds are dinosaurs. Amazing.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

1. Use the public library, free streaming services, You Tube and the like for non-classical music. Don't invest money into it! Like hundreds of millions of music lovers worldwide, you, too, will see in a short time that this music will only give you a brief spasm of pleasure. You will regret it in only a few years and you will end up with nothing to show for your investment.

2. Invest in classical music. Buy a few recordings by known composers on major labels and get to know them. Take your time. Get a few more, until you become familiar with the major composers. Don't worry if they don't leave you standing naked, heart pounding and head in a swirl after the first few times. They will be around as long as you are.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Serge said:


> Yes, birds are dinosaurs. Amazing.


People like Aulis Sallinen, Wolfgang Rihm, Sofia Gubaidulina, Osvaldo Golijov, and thousands more exist.

Like dinosaurs, the classical tradition is alive and well! So the metaphor works.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> 1. Use the public library, free streaming services, You Tube and the like for non-classical music. Don't invest money into it! Like hundreds of millions of music lovers worldwide, you, too, will see in a short time that this music will only give you a brief spasm of pleasure. You will regret it in only a few years and you will end up with nothing to show for your investment.
> 
> 2. Invest in classical music. Buy a few recordings by known composers on major labels and get to know them. Take your time. Get a few more, until you become familiar with the major composers. Don't worry if they don't leave you standing naked, heart pounding and head in a swirl after the first few times. They will be around as long as you are.


#1... I cannot agree! I think I'd tell my younger self to get into Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, even the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Leonard Cohen, ASAFP.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

^ I speak from experience... and I have had albums by all those you mention and hundreds more. They collect dust. They can all be streamed for free. No need to put your hard earned cash into it.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Yes, don't discriminate is perhaps is the best of advices that one can give to themselves.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> ^ I speak from experience... and I have had albums by all those you mention and hundreds more. They collect dust. They can all be streamed for free. No need to put your hard earned cash into it.


So you are past a phase. Who do you want to pay for that?


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Serge said:


> Yes, don't discriminate is perhaps is the best of advices that one can give to themselves.


Very good advice. Recognize that classical music is not just a western invention. There are classical musics in most parts of the world.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Don't make so many witheringly contemptuous remarks about popular music. The other kids already know you're weird and couldn't catch a baseball if it were handed to you.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Serge said:


> So you are past a phase. Who do you want to pay for that?


You don't make any sense 



Woodduck said:


> Don't make so many witheringly contemptuous remarks about popular music. The other kids already know you're weird and couldn't catch a baseball if it were handed to you.


Hey, that's an original one! Classical music lovers don't like popular music. What's streaming? Oh, and you're weird for liking classical and are not athletic. Clichés.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> ^ I speak from experience... and I have had albums by all those you mention and hundreds more. They collect dust. They can all be streamed for free. No need to put your hard earned cash into it.


Well, it's a personal POV. I can't stream them, and mine don't collect dust!


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> You don't make any sense


I don't? You bought the music, you enjoyed it at one stage, and now you are bitching about it. Your money back? I don't think so. Not to mention that those distribution channels that you mention didn't exist forever. And even now I personally don't use most of those.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Serge said:


> I don't? You bought the music, you enjoyed it at one stage, and now you are bitching about it. Your money back? I don't think so. Not to mention that those distribution channels that you mention didn't exist forever. And even now I personally don't use most of those.


This thread is about advice one would give oneself, using one's hindsight and experience. It's is not about bitching. Did I say I wanted my money back? You have missed the point.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

1. Remember that teenage phase when you didn't practise your violin and because of that you made some mistakes in a concert, and after that you just gave up? Why couldn't you just *swallow your embarrassment & persevere*? Just think, you might have played in fun ensembles and things at university, and you might have been really good by now!

2. All through your life, there's been classical music that you liked, but somehow you didn't follow it up, did you? You *clot* - just think how much *more you'd know* by now, and as a result how much better your posts would be on Talk Classical.

_Mind, I don't say you'd ever have been able to debate with MillionRainbows or PetrB - that would be hubris! _


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Simple - start listening to classical earlier, way earlier.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> This thread is about advice one would give oneself, using one's hindsight and experience. It's is not about bitching. Did I say I wanted my money back? You have missed the point.


So what were you saying then? You can't get to the next stage in life without going through the previous one. Your CDs are collecting dust? That's too bad. Mine too.


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

Don't buy too many of those budget "complete works" box sets, because a) you won't listen to most of the stuff on them, b) you're better off spending money on better quality recordings, and c) these box sets ruin the fun of collecting recordings later on.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> Don't make so many witheringly contemptuous remarks about popular music. The other kids already know you're weird and couldn't catch a baseball if it were handed to you.


In my experience, it was the demonstrable ability that I _could_ hit / catch-pass / aim-shoot / kick / the ball as well as anyone else; I had a clear ability that was accompanied by an expressed complete lack of interest in all team sports and especially those sports with their battles over a ball in play...

...combine that with flat out telling a school coach who consistently asked and asked if I would go out for the team of each season, "Sorry, Coach, I'm not interested in the base- / basket- / foot- / volley- ball teams or track or swimming. After school, I go home and practice my instrument for hours and hours." _(Besides, forget about your peers for a moment -- nothing quite so freaks out most high school teachers as that teenager who is already clearly and determinedly 'directed.')_

Hey, the jocks made / make _a very big deal_ about being a complete jock, so... _if you're going to be a really good geek,_ you will go for it all the way by making those witheringly contemptuous remarks about popular music as well.
:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Like what you like and don't worry about what others think. Try to like as much as possible, both inside and outside Classical.

Don't worry about whether you might grow out of some music. You can't predict where your tastes will go. 

Don't bother hating music. Don't try to define who you are by the stuff you hate.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

I think there is pretty much no avoiding 'being your age,' with all the attendant behaviors, outlooks, attitudes of each and every life-phase.

The only advice I would give any younger self is to deliberately think about what you like and why you like it, i.e. somewhat consciously define your tastes, though too to keep in mind that the younger self has much time and undiscovered worlds yet to explore. Ergo, don't write anything off quickly or lightly, and do not think that what you like / love at the moment is the ultimate anything.


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## stevens (Jun 23, 2014)

1) Dont leave the pianobench before you have learned the piece!
2) No! Stop! Go back to the piano!
3) Turn off the TV!
4) You say you have pain in your hands? Ohh you little liar! -No gain whithout pain! -Back to the piano!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

ptr said:


> Please send a dinosaur my way! Or even better, *a megalodon for my fish **tank!*
> 
> /ptr


All I have is two piranhas in stock. They were a gift from my dentist. Something about a perfect overbite.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Just remember, young man-none of your friends will like this kind of music of yours. Are you willing to sacrifice so much, despite the intense peer pressure to do otherwise, in order to enjoy what you love and potentially be very lonely? Are you? Are you? That's right, chump! I'm talking to YOU, hpowders!!!!!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Serge said:


> So what were you saying then? You can't get to the next stage in life without going through the previous one. Your CDs are collecting dust? That's too bad. Mine too.


Lordie, CD's are not the only real things about anyone's place gathering dust -- let alone the virtual dust gathering in our 'attic' under that dome we call a skull.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

And yet, I'm still enjoying my Faith No More's. Send a medical crew when I stop doing that.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Serge said:


> And yet, I'm still enjoying my Faith No More's. Send a medical crew when I stop doing that.


...or just concede that over time, your tastes can change, like your metabolism changes.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

PetrB said:


> ...or just concede that over time, your tastes can change, like your metabolism changes.


I know that. I am not knocking down classical, I am just amazed how this great band manages to keep my attention.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

PetrB said:


> ...or just concede that over time, your tastes can change, like your metabolism changes.


That's what you call a filler:


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Neh, no regrets in that department.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Well, Petit Blancrocher, that's a very nice music collection you've put together over the years. However, before you go too much further I feel I should mention what a pain in the a** it will be to move.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

^^^I was thinking about that too. What a downer!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Blancrocher said:


> Well, Petit Blancrocher, that's a very nice music collection you've put together over the years. However, before you go too much further I feel I should mention what a pain in the a** it will be to move.


Moving is _the time_ to bluntly realize what is worth packing up and schlepping, or what you pack up _and then pay_ to have schlepped to the next domicile....

Moving is an ultimate 'stuff' filter.








(Nintendo Quit Screen Message)


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## Muse Wanderer (Feb 16, 2014)

"Start listening to classical music in your teens rather than the mid-30s."

The problem is that this would spin off a parallel future and I may well not be here in this present!

Gotta live with my good deeds and mistakes... whilst still enjoying every moment I get to listen to this great music.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm pretty happy with where I am and how I got here (one of the few aspects of my life that I can say that about!) but ....

1. Start a database of your recordings from the start - it will save you a load of time later on (and put in a column for the date you got the recording) and it will save you from buying so many unwanted duplicates
2. Tell those people who tried to stop you from listening that you weren't going to do what they said at a much earlier stage in the relationship
3. Go to the Berlioz centenary concerts - you'll never have a similar opportunity
4. Take your headphones off before you kneel down to change CD (I've ruined two sets in 25 years that way!)
5. Buy a bigger house - it will enable you to store more CDs (and to keep your record player)


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## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

Turn down that Hüsker Dü just a bit, OK? Your 2014 ears will appreciate it.


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## motoboy (May 19, 2008)

ribonucleic;711 33 said:


> Turn down that Hüsker Dü just a bit, OK? Your 2014 ears will appreciate it.


Ha! Haven't thought of HD in awhile. Along with Love & Rockets, The The and XTC.

My advice would be to enjoy Mozart while you can because when you discover everything after 1840 you won't be able to enjoy him anywhere near as much. I am not hating, have just moved on...mostly.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

1. Don't be so quick to naysay. Some of the composers you think are dull or unimportant may end up being your favorites
2. You'll think that programatic music is better than absolute. Resist those thoughts.
3. Don't trash talk Mozart, you'll recant and regret everything


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Winterreisender said:


> Don't buy too many of those budget "complete works" box sets, because a) you won't listen to most of the stuff on them, b) you're better off spending money on better quality recordings, and c) these box sets ruin the fun of collecting recordings later on.


Completely agree. No performer(s) can fully do justice to a broad scope of works, quality wise.

One is better off accumulating, little by little, acknowledged individual great performances of each work.

It may cost more, but one gets what one pays for; so much more satisfying!!


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

,


hpowders said:


> Completely agree. No performer(s) can fully do justice to a broad scope of works, quality wise.
> 
> One is better off accumulating, little by little, acknowledged individual great performances of each work.
> 
> It may cost more, but one gets what one pays for; so much more satisfying!!


Yep, I am with you on this one as well


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Advice to my younger self:

Keep doing what you're doing. It works out great!
(And oh, I wish I could give spoilers and tell you about the amazing stuff you're going to love, including tons of music that hasn't even been composed yet...)


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

LMAO! I've thought about this many times - here are some of the messages. 

I don't care how old you are and the fact that you're already getting paid to blow through a tube - take the goshdarn piano lessons and try and learn a thing!
Take species counterpoint seriously - your effortless chorale harmonisations are not enough
Stop sleeping in past music history lessons 
You'll never make a decent living playing that damn tube anyway - spend your free time getting some other music-related skills
Don't laugh at new music - one day you'll realise you love it and you'll regret all the cool moments of being involved at the ground floor with great musicians and composers that passed you by because you were an ignorant headstrong snob


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

I know you're thinking of joining an online music forum, but my friend--don't do it!! It'll cost you a d****d fortune.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

1. Don't listen to those Pilz Vienna Master Series CDs! Trust me, the recordings suck...

2. Stop listening to _Bolero_ and try something else for a change.

3. Go for some opera! I know you think it sounds like screeching, but if you give it a little effort, you might change your mind about it.

4. Howard Hanson isn't the musical god that you think he is. Enough already!

5. You should be practicing your cello...get to work! And you should also learn to play the piano.


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## kishi (Mar 29, 2015)

As I've only just started, mine would simply be:
- Start earlier, I mean _way_ earlier. Those times when you don't have to worry about deadlines so you have time to immerse yourself and learn better.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Dear little Triscuit,

Don't feel embarrassed to admit you love classical music. Don't let your friends' dismissal of it discourage you from sharing your love of classical music with others. And get into chamber music sooner...don't wait until you're 17 to start realizing that not all string quartets are "boring". And don't download so much music from iTunes...it's not lossless and you're going to regret having spent so much money on lossy compressed music. >.< Oh, and yeah--have fun 

-Me


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## GhenghisKhan (Dec 25, 2014)

Your peers at school suck.


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

mmsbls said:


> Simple - start listening to classical earlier, way earlier.


THIS! This is one of the top pieces of advice I would give my younger self.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Cosmos said:


> Don't trash talk Mozart, you'll recant and regret everything


Me too.

It might be the only advice I'd give. If my younger self had only appreciated Mozart, he might also have avoided all kinds of other errors.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Spoke to my younger self....the kid's an idiot. So, it's business as usual.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Couac Addict said:


> Spoke to my younger self....the kid's an idiot. So, it's business as usual.


Mine too, man. Worst thing is, that loser thinks he knows what he's doing. That fool is going to need a lot of luck to turn out as well as I have.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Start from simpler stuff then gradually move to more complex stuff (duh) rather than trying to understand more complex stuff simply by stubborn repeated listens.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

isorhythm said:


> Me too.
> 
> It might be the only advice I'd give. If my younger self had only appreciated Mozart, he might also have avoided all kinds of other errors.


My younger self also failed to appreciate Mozart. But if he'd listened to more Mozart then, who knows what other great music he'd have missed out on?


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