# What questions do you ask yourself when deciding what to listen to next?



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

What questions do you ask yourself when deciding what to listen to next?

Some of mine: 

- What would I be most embarrassed to be caught not knowing or not recognizing? 
- What do I know the least about? What would educate me the most? 
- What has been important historically? What would educated people of prior generations have valued the most?


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

"What am in the mood for at this moment?"


----------



## CDs (May 2, 2016)

What is something I haven't listened to in a while.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

MacLeod said:


> "What am in the mood for at this moment?"


I have too many bad moods to let this influence me....


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

What could compliment my reading material today? What have I been depriving myself of for too long? Should I be looking in this or that area to broaden my horizons? What are any musical goals in particular that I've had lately?


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Lukecash12 said:


> What could compliment my reading material today?


Yes, that is a big one for me too.


----------



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I always listen to music that I believe will make people think I'm set on world domination, and likely to succeed. My choices have had little effect so far. Perhaps I should get a cat?


----------



## Xenakiboy (May 8, 2016)

For me its what my mood is and my urge for discovery. I often discover new music, so a percentage of my listening's are my urge to go back because something is bothering me about it (in a good way).
Also, other times I'm reminded of a composer I haven't listened to for a while (like reading through this cool forum or looking through my cd collection), so I decide to get it out and sit back to enjoy it! :tiphat:


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

science said:


> What questions do you ask yourself when deciding what to listen to next?
> 
> Some of mine:
> 
> ...


Do you mean next as in new to me or next as in which album shall I select? (or both?)


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

KenOC said:


> I always listen to music that I believe will make people think I'm set on world domination, and likely to succeed. My choices have had little effect so far. Perhaps I should get a cat?


The cat won't help with world domination, but it will clarify your position in your local hierarchy.


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

dogen said:


> Do you mean next as in new to me or next as in which album shall I select? (or both?)


I meant which album but feel free to discuss either or both!


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

science said:


> I meant which album but feel free to discuss either or both!


OK...album..."mood" ...whatever that means....

Probably an album / music that sits OK with my current state of mind. That might also relate to the time of day. So first thing in the morning I might well choose some Bach solo cello suites.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

science said:


> Yes, that is a big one for me too.


I'm reading Ian Kershaw's biography of Hitler, so maybe Bruckner or Beethoven, but not Wagner!


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

dogen said:


> I'm reading Ian Kershaw's biography of Hitler, so maybe Bruckner or Beethoven, but not Wagner!


Questions, dogen, questions! And don't frame them rhetorically like it's Jeopardy! "What is Brahms, Trebek?" That is, unless you're incapable of asking questions. Now *that* would be an interesting ailment.

Btw, what's wrong with Wagner? Tristan is an interesting choice when reading about Eva.


----------



## John T (May 5, 2016)

Lukecash12 said:


> Questions, dogen, questions! And don't frame them rhetorically like it's Jeopardy! "What is Brahms, Trebek?" That is, unless you're incapable of asking questions. Now *that* would be an interesting ailment.
> 
> Btw, what's wrong with Wagner? Tristan is an interesting choice when reading about Eva.


"What is Brahms,..."

Umm, shouldn't that be "What _are_ Brahms"? :tiphat:


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

Lukecash12 said:


> Questions, dogen, questions! And don't frame them rhetorically like it's Jeopardy! "What is Brahms, Trebek?" That is, unless you're incapable of asking questions. Now *that* would be an interesting ailment.
> 
> Btw, what's wrong with Wagner? Tristan is an interesting choice when reading about Eva.


Just an allusion to my dislike of opera generally! (Don't know about Jeopardy so that's lost on me, sorry.)


----------



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

dogen said:


> I'm reading Ian Kershaw's biography of Hitler, so maybe Bruckner or Beethoven, but not Wagner!


Ullmann, Weill, Krenek, Schoenberg, Schreker, Strauss, Orff, Hindemith...

And above all, jazz!


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2016)

science said:


> Ullmann, Weill, Krenek, Schoenberg, Schreker, Strauss, Orff, Hindemith...
> 
> And above all, jazz!


You're going to have to spell that one out!


----------



## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

My selecting processes don't follow pre-set or even any at all articulated patterns. I just listen to music I feel the most enthusiastic about at that time.


----------



## dieter (Feb 26, 2016)

Is my 18 year old daughter home? Is my wife home? They both hate the 'noise' my music makes. If I were them and shared their proclivities I would behave the same way. In the meantime, woe is me...


----------



## dieter (Feb 26, 2016)

dogen said:


> Just an allusion to my dislike of opera generally! (Don't know about Jeopardy so that's lost on me, sorry.)


Dogen, you know, we have disagreed, especially about your mother England, but I find your posts most sensible.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

What am I likely to stay awake long enough to hear?

If I am posting to Current listening, what is not on the Naxos label?

Did I listen to chamber or orchestral last session?

The randomizer handles the rest.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

dieter said:


> Is my wife home?


Yeah, when she's gone, that's when the crazy stuff comes out. She actually gave me an ultimatum never to play anything by Ives in her presence again.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

> She actually gave me an ultimatum never to play anything by Ives in her presence again.


Maybe you could sneek in that quiet piece, _The Unanswered Question_


----------



## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Do I want something I know that is a classic, or do I want something new?

From there, there is not too much question beyond what genre I'm in the mood for. I have a bunch of composers with stars next to their names that I want to hear more from.


----------



## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Whichever CD is next in the pile, or random by album from the ipod, ie I never make a choice.


----------



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

^ He has a special algorithm, and woe to anyone who replaces a CD in the wrong place on the shelves! :lol:

I just listen to whatever I feel like, usually a mixture of old favourites (if I still know where they are) and records which are new to me.


----------



## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> ^ He has a special algorithm, and woe to anyone who replaces a CD in the wrong place on the shelves! :lol:
> 
> I just listen to whatever I feel like, usually a mixture of old favourites (if I still know where they are) and records which are new to me.


A friend of mine has a far inferior system. For the CDs he pulls out to listen to in the car, he leaves the boxes sticking out so he knows where to return them after playing. Unfortunately his SO sometimes pushes the boxes back in, apparently for tidiness, but mainly as a wind up, so he is pretty well stuffed. Thankfully my Figleaf doesn't destroy my carefully devised systems.


----------



## Guest (May 18, 2016)

Wood said:


> A friend of mine has a far inferior system. For the CDs he pulls out to listen to in the car, he leaves the boxes sticking out so he knows where to return them after playing. Unfortunately his SO sometimes pushes the boxes back in, apparently for tidiness, but mainly as a wind up, so he is pretty well stuffed. Thankfully my Figleaf doesn't destroy my carefully devised systems.


That's good to know since disrespecting a music or film collection system is cited as a contributory factor in 10 - 15% of divorce petitions.


----------



## Guest (May 18, 2016)

Weston said:


> What am I likely to stay awake long enough to hear?
> 
> If I am posting to Current listening, what is not on the Naxos label?
> 
> ...


Hey, I didn't know about the Naxos thing. Thanks for the tip.


----------



## CDs (May 2, 2016)

What Naxos thing?


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

dogen said:


> Hey, I didn't know about the Naxos thing. Thanks for the tip.





CDs said:


> What Naxos thing?


One mustn't appear to be as cheap as I am.


----------



## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

MacLeod said:


> "What am in the mood for at this moment?"





CDs said:


> What is something I haven't listened to in a while?


That's how I decide.

And also, and I've mentioned this many times before, I tend to listen to music chronologically through the day, if I'm listening all day. What comes next in the history of music? Baroque in the morning, classical era at lunch, romantic in the afternoon, 20th Century in the evening. It's not a hard and fast rule, but I don't normally wake up to Stravinsky.

What music belongs together? And I also often listen to about 4 or 5 CDs that belong together thematically or geographically: mostly Baroque, mostly classical era, German / Austrian music, Scandinavian music, English, American, French etc, all day of Brahms, all day of Britten etc.

Not always, but this can help me decide what to listen to next.


----------



## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I do not know. It depends on what I have been smoking that day.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

dogen said:


> Just an allusion to my dislike of opera generally! (Don't know about Jeopardy so that's lost on me, sorry.)


Jeopardy, real name Giovanni O'Paddy, was an Irish-Italian who wrote a number of "near-miss" operas which, in more skilful hands, might have been sure-fire hits. Who can forget...

The Mortgage of Figaro: Where our hero stops an evil estate agent from charging extortionate fees on a house purchase

The Battered Bride: The heartbroken owner of a fish-and-chip shop commits suicide by throwing herself into a deep-fat fryer

Carmen: A dull tale about cab-drivers in downtown Seville

Hotello: A never-performed comedy, withdrawn from production when the librettist was sued by John Cleese and Connie Booth

Wazzock: The tale of a slow-witted man who eats too many beans and explodes when his wife drops a cigarette down the sofa

The Wring Cycle: A laundry-man's thwarted attempt to seduce three customers causes him to renounce love, and he sets out to rule the world. He ultimately fails, but we have to wait 14 hours before we know for sure


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

dogen said:


> I'm reading Ian Kershaw's biography of Hitler, so maybe Bruckner or Beethoven, but not Wagner!


I just finished _1924: The Year That Made Hitler_, by Peter Ross Range. Fascinating in-depth history of the 1923 Putsch, the subsequent trial, and Hitler's slap-on-the-wrist sentence after being convicted of high treason. The development of a demagogue, with some frightening parallels for today.


----------



## Guest (May 18, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> parallels for today.


I'm sure. The biography is very clear in demonstrating it is about people at any time anywhere; it's not about Nazis, it's not about Germans, it's not about the past.

Er....back to the topic....


----------



## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Most of the time the only question is "What do I feel like right now?"

But sometimes - when I can't decide what to listen to, or just feel like expanding my horizons a little - some other questions come into play. They might be:

-What music have my friends praised recently?
-What music have I not listened to in a long time?
-What are the gaps in my musical knowledge?
-What music will change my current mood?
-What music will remind me of something or someone I want to remember?

So, the same as a lot of other people here, I guess.


----------



## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

science said:


> - What would I be most embarrassed to be caught not knowing or not recognizing?


Having not heard a whole lot of classical music compared to others on this site, I can say this is the main question I ask myself. I trust the ranked lists on this site to guide me through my listening experience.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

If I'm sitting at the computer and feeling lazy I'll browse through my Amazon "wish list" and listen to one of these on Spotify so I don't need to get up. Usually I'll just scan the shelves and grab hold of whatever catches my eye at the moment.


----------



## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

"Do I _really _want to hear _that _right now?"


----------



## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

isorhythm said:


> -What music will change my current mood?


Now I am really a little jealous, because my moods are not that accomodating, little monsters. I either match them perfectly with say as much lachrymose music as they want or else. If I try to change my mood with music, it doesn't help at all, because mood 'improving' selections tend to feel grating emotionaly and audialy.


----------



## kanishknishar (Aug 10, 2015)

*Lama lama lama ding dong*

"Which conductor do I want to explore next? What's some not-so-common composers he has recorded?"


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

The question that the OP poses is probably the single question that has given me the most anxiety throughout my life (I kid, somewhat). I've tried coming up with many complex systems to determine what I should listen to next, but I rarely stick to them. Usually I just default to putting my Itunes on the randomizer function and seeing what pops up. 

You might ask "why not just listen to what you're in the mood for". Well, it's not that simple, because I feel like listening to hundreds of works at a time.


----------



## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

^
ah yes.. been there too, know the feeling...hard place to be, my sympathies


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

violadude said:


> The question that the OP poses is probably the single question that has given me the most anxiety throughout my life (I kid, somewhat). I've tried coming up with many complex systems to determine what I should listen to next, but I rarely stick to them. Usually I just default to putting my Itunes on the randomizer function and seeing what pops up.
> 
> You might ask "why not just listen to what you're in the mood for". Well, it's not that simple, because I feel like listening to hundreds of works at a time.


Be thankful for that, means you have a broad taste.:tiphat:


----------



## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

Traditionally I have ask myself: What would Mr Spock have listened to when he found himself in need of human solace? What would Gilligan have yearned for when he failed the others, yet again, in escaping that uncharted deserted island? What would console me as my red-eye flight spirals abruptly into the ocean? Why was I born? Does God exist? How do I escape the existential dilemma of choice?

But now I realize, having read this thread, that the most essential question of all is:

_What would I be most embarrassed to be caught not knowing or not recognizing? _


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

KRoad said:


> Traditionally I have ask myself: What would Mr Spock have listened to when he found himself in need of human solace? What would Gilligan have yearned for when he failed the others, yet again, in escaping that uncharted deserted island? What would console me as my red-eye flight spirals abruptly into the ocean? Why was I born? Does God exist? How do I escape the existential dilemma of choice?
> 
> But now I realize, having read this thread, that the most essential question of all is:
> 
> _What would I be most embarrassed to be caught not knowing or not recognizing? _


And after all this you put on some music I presume?


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Often for me it is more a matter of being pulled along. Right now I am being pulled along by recordings of the Barber of Seville and recordings of Beverly Sills, though I do go outside those a bit. Sometimes it is just that as I am going through the folders on my MP3 something grabs me. Of course, most newly acquired disks get at least one listen as soon as they are ripped.


----------



## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> Yeah, when she's gone, that's when the crazy stuff comes out. She actually gave me an ultimatum never to play anything by Ives in her presence again.


Ah, I recall that Ives' piano trio evoked the same reaction from Mrs Vox, before she was Mrs Vox, as long ago as 1985.

As for me, I try to operate a fairly strict "one new disc a week" policy, unless the new disc is merely a new recording of music I already know. There are usually a dozen or so discs around the CD player that I'm still listening to pretty intensively, before they get ripped and added to my flac file collection. For a change of mood I will go to the flac files, spotify or my LP collection.

Like senza sordino I find myself more open to unfamiliar music late at night, in my case late 20th and 21st century works or early music.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

violadude said:


> The question that the OP poses is probably the single question that has given me the most anxiety throughout my life (I kid, somewhat). I've tried coming up with many complex systems to determine what I should listen to next, but I rarely stick to them. Usually I just default to putting my Itunes on the randomizer function and seeing what pops up.
> 
> You might ask "why not just listen to what you're in the mood for". Well, it's not that simple, because I feel like listening to hundreds of works at a time.


This is the inverse and opposite of the old "I don't know much about art but I know what I like" routine. It becomes "I know a lot about music so I don't know what I like." Actually it's good dilemma, almost an embarrassment of riches -- almost, but no one should be embarrassed about knowledge.


----------

