# Musical Taste over the Lifespan



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

*How has YOUR musical taste changed over your lifespan?*

From a psychosocial viewpoint, we all change. Our priorities, perspectives, knowledge, and needs all change. It follows that our taste in music would also change, even if it is in subtle ways. I am hoping that this discussion will weave a bit of personal psychology with a discussion of musical taste changes. I am roughly including Erikson's Stages of Development and including basic ideas that each phase of the lifespan addresses.

*CHILDHOOD* - Is it ok for me to move and act in the world? Am I going to be able to make my way through life? Family, neighbors, school relationships are important.

*ADOLESCENCE *- Who am I? What can I become? Peers and role models are important.

*EARLY ADULTHOOD* - Can I establish an intimate relationship? Love relationships are important.

*MIDDLE ADULTHOOD* - Can I make my life count? Parenting/mentoring relationships are important.

*LATE ADULTHOOD* - How do I view the life I have led?

Even if you are a young person, I think it would be interesting to know how your taste has changed in your life, and maybe even how you think it WILL change as you become older.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

CHILDHOOD
As a child, I didn't have strong musical tastes. I enjoyed hearing my mother teach her piano students pieces like Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen and listening to her play Milhaud's Scaramouche. I am the youngest of my family, and with a bunch of older teenage siblings, I also listened to a lot of pop music from the 70's. In hindsight, I enjoyed Supertramp, Elton John, Billy Joel. The first album I remember really knowing well was Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

ADOLESCENCE
My deep love of classical music really established when I was about 13 years of age. I transitioned from loving the moody music of Depeche Mode to listening to Stravinsky's Firebird (one of the first classical pieces I became enamored with). I will say that, as an adolescent, I wanted highly emotional music that jived with my romanticized view of life. My favorite music was
* Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto no2, Variations on a Theme of Paganini
* Barber - Adagio for Strings
* Elgar - Enigma Variations
* Hanson - Symphony no2
* Sibelius - Symphony no2
* Brahms - Symphony no3
* Debussy - Suite Bergamasque, Three Nocturnes
* Stravinsky - Rite of Spring, Firebird
* Beethoven - Moonlight and Pathetique Sonatas
* Faure - Requiem
* Prokofiev - Symphony no5, Lieutenant Kije
* Recordings by The Canadian Brass and Wynton Marsalis (I am a trumpeter)
I also listened to non-classical music and became a fan of The Police, Sting, Lyle Mays, Jazz, Jean Luc-Ponty, and others.

EARLY ADULTHOOD
Prokofiev's Symphony no6 became an anchor to the music of this time for me. There was a lot of uncertainty in my life during my 20's. I would worry about relationships and about my career as a musician. I learned about the symphonic repertoire during this time. I would have to say that I was ultra focused on the 20th century, with little room for other music.
* Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra, Bluebeard's Castle
* Mussorgsky - Pictures
* Barber - Violin Concerto, First Essay, Symphony no1
* Prokofiev - Symphony no6, Piano Concertos 1,2, Violin Cto no1, Piano Sonatas 4, 6, 7
* Adams - Harmonielehre, Nixon in China
* Messiaen - Quartet for the End of Time
* Sibelius - Symphony no5
* Schubert - Winterreise (the exception to my 20th century craze)

MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
I am new to this stage of life. I would say that at this point in my life I feel much more room in my heart for the music of Brahms, Beethoven, and Bach, Handel, as well as Opera. It could be that I have more patience now that I am in my 40's and that this music is better suited to that patience.

* Brahms - 4 Symphonies, Violin Sonata 1, Vier Gesange (lieder)
* Bach - Mass
* Beethoven - Piano Sonatas
* Puccini - Operas

But I would say that probably my biggest push during this time is to listen to BEST AND MOST NEW music out there. Maybe these older ears of mine crave something a bit more spicy and crazy. I have a greater tolerance for dissonance and uniqueness than ever before. I would also say that I don't listen to much else but classical music anymore. I am also a Prokofiev completist at this point, wanting to know everything he ever composed and becoming more of an (amateur) expert on his music.
* Prokofiev
* Gubaidulina
* Rihm
* Ades
* Adams, John
* Maxwell Davies

I guess that's enough writing for now. Sorry for the tome.


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## GhenghisKhan (Dec 25, 2014)

Rap/hip hop/alternative/rock/punk/ska --> House/Micheal Jackson --> Complete indifference and apathy ----> Classical

Glorious and beautiful solitude.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

I like this thread idea, though I don't have the patience to compose my whole history at one sitting in response.

I'm a bit confused by one thing in your post, though. Your 20th century focus which started in early adulthood seems to be continuing on till today judging by the composers you listed by name in your current period. I was just wondering whether the 'room in your heart' for the three B's is something you just feel you have, or is something you are acting upon, and if so, whether it includes all types of their music or just certain genres.

I understand the completest mentality, by the way. I've got mine as well.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Childhood: I grew up with music being limited to German Schlagers, the favourite music of my parents. Pop (like Beatles) was dirty. Classical did not exist. Still enjoy these once in a while for nostalgic reasons.

Adolescence: around 1973, I started to get into pop and rock, with bands like Sweet, Slade, Alice Cooper, David Bowie. Later I developed a broader taste in pop/rock, from Carpenters to Uriah Heep, but mainly top40 songs. Still love them.

Early adulthood (around 1980-1990): a shift more to albums rather than top40 hits. New wave and prog dominating. Acts like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Japan, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush. Still love them.

Middle adulthood (around 1990-2000): branching out big time into classical music (and later a bit jazz as well). Starting with the standards, gradually exploring more obscure composers. Pop/rock on the backburner for a while.

Late adulthood (around 2000-2015): continued high interest in classical music, but combined with a renewed interest in pop/rock (acts like Tori Amos and Porcupine Tree).

I honestly can't say of any period in my life that I listened to music that I do not enjoy listening to right now.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

*Early Childhood* (toddler-9): Classical was all I listened to. I was introduced to opera at a very young age. I had numerous opera CDs and collections of well-known classical music from across the different periods, from early baroque to early modern. I was not interested in popular music at all.

*Later childhood* (9-13): I started getting interested in popular music. I mainly liked mainstream pop, but I also liked some of the oldies music that my parents listened to. I got interested in showtunes as well. My love of classical only expanded and I started getting a large collection. This is when Tchaikovsky first became my favorite composer. I mostly listened to Romantic music. My collection of Classical period and Modern was lacking.

*Adolescence* (13-18): My popular music interest expanded quite a bit: my interest in indie music and electronica surged above any other popular genre. But still even as of this day, I only have about 700 non-classical tracks compared to the 9000+ classical tracks I have. My classical music collection expanded even more when I discovered Mahler and Shostakovich. I started liking even earlier baroque and even later modern. I bought hundreds of classical CDs during my teen years. My primary interest was symphonies and I didn't listen to much opera or chamber music.

*Now* (late adolescence, early adulthood) (18): I've gotten to the point where I'm amassing alternate recordings of pieces I already have. I care more about specific conductors and orchestras than I ever did before. I'm researching lesser-known composers from various time-periods. My interest in opera and chamber music have surged, although symphonies are still my favorite classical form. Although I listen to music in all periods, the late Romantic has remained my favorite for years.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Childhood - 20th century classical highlighted by Shostakovich and Vaughan Williams.

Adolescence - pop/rock.

Early adulthood - hard/progressive rock.

Middle adulthood - back to classical with strong focus on Bach.

Late adulthood - same as middle.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Vesteralen said:


> I'm a bit confused by one thing in your post, though. Your 20th century focus which started in early adulthood seems to be continuing on till today judging by the composers you listed by name in your current period. I was just wondering whether the 'room in your heart' for the three B's is something you just feel you have, or is something you are acting upon, and if so, whether it includes all types of their music or just certain genres.


Good point. I should have said that I am listening to Brahms and should list what I like: Violin Sonata no.1, All 4 Symphonies, as well as Bach - Mass, Beethoven - many of the piano sonatas.

(I edited my earlier post)


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Art Rock said:


> Childhood: I grew up with music being limited to German Schlagers, the favourite music of my parents. .


I'm always learning things on TC. I never heard of German Schlagers till now. Thank goodness for Google.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Tristan said:


> *Now (late adolescence, early adulthood) (18): I've gotten to the point where I'm amassing alternate recordings of pieces I already have. I care more about specific conductors and orchestras than I ever did before. I'm researching lesser-known composers from various time-periods. My interest in opera and chamber music have surged, although symphonies are still my favorite classical form. Although I listen to music in all periods, the late Romantic has remained my favorite for years.*


*

Wow, you've have done a lot of listening in a very short period!*


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Bulldog said:


> Childhood - 20th century classical highlighted by Shostakovich and Vaughan Williams.
> 
> Adolescence - pop/rock.
> 
> ...


Now, that's concise!


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Vesteralen said:


> Now, that's concise!


Yes, the antidote to post #2.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Bulldog said:


> Yes, the antidote to post #2.


ouch! 

(I know)


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

My tastes have changed, but I don't know if this is a "stages of life" thing. E.g.,

_"MIDDLE ADULTHOOD - Can I make my life count? Parenting/mentoring relationships are important"_

I don't even know what this would mean with respect to music. I think for me, it's just more a question of getting bored with stuff, become a more independent and patient listener. Music is less social and more personal.

The general overview:

Age 8: Listened to The Beatles at sleepover with slightly older friend, whose father was a fan.
Age 8-17: Classic Rock stage. Mostly out of touch with the pop music of my day (80s).
Age 17: Bought REM's Reckoning. Blew me away. 
Age 17-24: Went through my college/alternative rock stage. Music became "Art." Dabbled in Classical and Jazz, renounced Zeppelin. Deserved to be punched in the face. 
Age 25+: Eclecticism. At various times, added Classical, Jazz, Rap and Country to my repertoire. Came back to Classic Rock, but dumped the alternative rock stuff, mostly.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

*CHILDHOOD* - Classical was mostly unknown to me other than what I heard in cartoons and tv shows. My brother was 10 years older than me and I was raised primarily on Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Boston, Foreigner, Journey, etc.

*ADOLESCENCE *- Many of the same bands but added in what was popular at the time with Ratt, Night Ranger, Whitesnake, Dokken, etc. I also expanded my Classic Rock roots to bands like Jethro Tull, Ted Nugent, Rush, Pink Floyd and Yes. I became aware of Blues artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins and B.B. King. I discovered 50's rock like Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. I also discovered 60's rock like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Sly And The Family Stone & Cream. Motown from The Four Tops, Temptations and Smokey Robinson worked its way in, followed by Folk music from Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens and Nick Drake. Classic Country music also became a part of my vocabulary with Charley Pride, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings.

*EARLY ADULTHOOD* - I began adding Classical from the big names, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Mahler, Chopin, etc. I also got interested in Jazz from Miles Davis and John Coltrane as well as vocal Jazz from Johnny Hartman, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

*MIDDLE ADULTHOOD* - This is where I currently am and I still listen to all the above, but now my main expansion is in different areas of classical music.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Childhood - A bit of The Beatles early on, but mostly rock in my late childhood. Who, Zep, Cream, Hendrix, and the like.

Adolescence - metal and hard rock. Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Sir Lord Baltimore, Mountain, Trapeze.

Early Adulthood - prog and fusion. Prog - Genesis, King Crimson, PFM, Banco, Grobschnitt, Zappa, Gentle Giant, National Health, Happy the Man, Camel, etc. Fusion - Mahavihsnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Brand X, Weather Report, Iceberg, Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, etc.

A bit later, I started to explore the more avant-garde prog bands, like: Henry Cow, Magma, Universe Zero, Art Zoyd, etc.

Middle adulthood - still a big fan of prog and fusion (especially since the revival starting in the mid 90's). 

My further exploration of the avant-garde prog bands lead me to explore 20th and 21st century, and contemporary classical, since the avant-prog bands were mostly influenced by the music of these periods. 

My love for fusion lead me to explore jazz, mostly modern progressive genres. 

And that's pretty much where I am today. My listening is pretty much made up of close to equal parts: 20th century and contemporary classical, jazz and fusion, prog and avant-prog. These scratch all my musical itches: musicianship, complexity, depth, emotion, advanced musical concepts, etc.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Vesteralen said:


> I'm always learning things on TC. I never heard of German Schlagers till now. Thank goodness for Google.


Ignorance is bliss........

(No offence, Art rock, I've had my fair share of "levensliederen" )


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

As I turn 40 years old, I have become a million times more radical.

When I was 14-16 I heard Boulez's composition and was bored.

Now I am 38 and I am proud to say that I like very composer except perhaps Havergal Brian and Kenny G.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Albert7 said:


> Now I am 38 and I am proud to say that I like very composer except perhaps Havergal Brian and Kenny G.


deep down, you know you have a soft spot for Kenny G


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

20centrfuge said:


> deep down, you know you have a soft spot for Kenny G


Okay you got served:


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Pretty tough to remember, but something like this...

Childhood: Pretty limited, but anything on TV: Ed Sullivan, Don Messer's Jubilee, Lawrence Welk (Liberace appeared, with his sequined blazers and pops classical piano), etc.

Adolescence: Had a transistor radio in Late Childhood/Early Adolescence and immediately gravitated to the local Top 40 AM rock station, so lots of Beatles, Stones, Alice Cooper, CCR, etc.

Early Adulthood: Got bored with AM rock and was heavily into underground German and British bands in Late Adolescence/Early Adulthood. Discovered Darmstadt and Neue Wiener Schulen, plus IRCAM. Started to make attempts at getting into Common Practice, but it wasn't bizarre enough to compete with the modern styles.

Middle Adulthood: Started to feel blasé about all of the bizarreness and got heavily into Common Practice, but without abandoning music of Early Adulthood, just readjusting the amount of time I was spending on older and newer, with a more balanced dispersion of interest through the centuries, but still heaviest toward the more recent centuries.

Late Adulthood: I feel that's a long way off, but I anticipate that I have plateaued to some degree. My taste has definitely settled into the classical 'genre' over the others I used to explore and I think it suits me best.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

When I was a kid I heard more Mozart and Bach then... hopefully I can catch up right now during my late 30's.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

With a few exceptions... pop stars that I thought were "all that" for a short period of time... I would say that the primary way in which my musical taste has changed is that I have come to like an increasingly broad array of music. I still like many of the pop and rock musicians/bands that I loved as a teenager... although perhaps not to the same extent... and not to the exclusion of a lot of other music. Now I listen to everything from the Rolling Stones to Bach to Gesualdo to Johann Strauss II to Duke Ellington to Johnny Cash to Muddy Waters to Schubert to Classical Indian Music, etc... My music library is both broad and deep. Classical music followed by Jazz accounts for the largest portion of it. I probably have more discs of music by Bach than I have of most non-classical genre. Even so, there is music I don't much like... and considering the wealth of music that I do like, I see little purpose in wasting much time on that which I don't trying to convince myself of its merits.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

In late adulthood, I've tended, gradually and as a gross generality, away from music which is loud, spectacular, dramatic, grandiose, and bombastic, and toward music which is intimate, austere, subtle, personal, and concise. Away from orchestral music and toward chamber music. Away from the thrice-familiar and toward the obscure, hoping to find hidden treasure. Away from constantly listening to music, as well as performing music, to quietly reading and thinking about music.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Child: I remember being fascinated with ragtime, it's about the time The Sting was released in theatres. I watched Top of the Pops. And then my mother bought Wings Over America and I listened to that over and over. 

Adolescent: I started to listen to some classical, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Stravinsky. I listened to Supertramp, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles

Teen : I bought my first classical records: LvB piano sonatas and Grieg Peer Gynt. And I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin & Pink Floyd. As I played the guitar better I listened to folk music and John Renbourn 

Young Adult: I listened to a lot more classical while still listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and then Yes (20 yrs too late)

Middle Adult: I bought a few jazz albums, more classical and listened to less rock. This is when I picked up the violin so I started listening to a lot of string music and concerti

Now a few months before my half century I listen to classical music about 95% of the time.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Childhood - Loved to play my grandfather's old 78rpm record player and his large collection of mostly classical recordings going back to around WW1

Teens - Moved from England to US - no more 78s but started to learn more about classical and began collecting. Exposed to Maria Callas in mid teens...WOW! Really started to get into bel canto.

20's & 30's - Continued to dig further into classical. Got into Mahler & Bruckner. Went to a Ring Cycle.

Since then - Some interests have narrowed, lost much of my interest in bel canto & Verdi etc. Still enjoy finding new obscure corners of the repertoire, particularly 20th century British.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> With a few exceptions... pop stars that I thought were "all that" for a short period of time... I would say that the primary way in which my musical taste has changed is that I have come to like an increasingly broad array of music. I still like many of the pop and rock musicians/bands that I loved as a teenager... although perhaps not to the same...


I think this is true of most people as evidenced by the multitude of nostalgia radio stations that specialize in music from different decades: 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's...There is something about being a teenager that we want to hold on to.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

My classical music preference has and probably will always be firmly rooted in the great 18th century with its sister the 17th. It impresses me more than other centuries. Romanticism is fine.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Childhood - 78s of Jimmy Shand Scottish reels & jigs, light opera, Ritual Fire Dance, Bolero et al. In school we sang folk songs & learned ring dances - it was the age of the Folk Revival in British Schools.

Adolescence - aged 13-14, mad on pop - The Beatles, The Hollies; some baroque input in violin lessons; then I turned away from my own generation and would spend hours transcribing the lyrics of Kenneth McKellar's Songs of Ireland, Songs of Robert Burns, and some Welsh & English Folk Song LPs that we had.

Young Adulthood - I married a folkie, and we spent our 20s buying Planxty & Steeleye Span LPs and going to the Durham Folk Festival. The 70s folk scene included a lot of medievalism, and we were huge fans of David Munrow.

Middle Adulthood - Busy with work, but mainly folk & early music.

Late Adulthood - When Tag bought a piano, & a year later I returned to the violin, baroque music arrived too. I spent a year playing Klezmer. Then two years ago we joined TC and I am into everything, albeit on a snippety basis... 

But I'm still a Folkie at heart.


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

My profile is probably unusual. I was never interested in pop music and my listening career has simply been an expansion from standard CM repertoire in my teens in the mid 50s (Beethoven, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky) to Mozart, Brahms and Mahler, late teens and thence to other composers, stopping short with Berg, and then widening out in the last ten years, helped by the internet, retirement etc.


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Childhood - The only music I listened to was Classical. From a very young age, I was taught that rock music was something that only bad people listened to! :devil: Some of my favorite music included Ravel's _Bolero_ and _La Valse_ (I loved to dance to the latter), Janacek's _Sinfonietta_, Holst's _The Planets_, and Wagner's overtures.

Adolescence - I went through a number of obsessions...as we all did, I daresay! I became enamored with the music of Sibelius, strangely enough preferring his _En Saga_, _Lemminkanen Suite_, and _Symphony No. 2_ to any of his other works. Soon after that, I acquired a very peculiar obsession with the music of Howard Hanson. I convinced myself that he was the most underrated composer of all time and bought multiple recordings from "Mercury Living Presence" and other labels. My grandma happened to have an autographed score of his 2nd symphony and I took a picture of this and copied it out and slipped it into the liner notes for the CD recording... Other obsessions included Tchaikovsky, Gorecki's _Symphony No. 3_, Elgar's _Dream of Gerontius_, and Messiaen's _Quartet for the End of Time_.

Young Adulthood - As I gradually opened up to 20th-century music, I grew obsessed with the avant-garde music of Penderecki. I liked it because it seemed subversive and went against the grain of what my parents listened to! Once I had spent a significant amount of time in the 20th century, I decided to expand backwards and fill up some significant holes in my music listening, including giants such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. The latter composer has consistently grown in my admiration and I would currently consider him to be my favorite.

Well, that's it. I'm still a young adult!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

As a child and teenager, I enjoyed Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.

Now that I'm quite a bit older, I prefer introspective music, preferably Bach keyboard music on harpsichord. Sometimes, chamber quartets and piano trios. Sometimes late Brahms Piano works + Handel Variations and Fugue. Schumann's Symphonic Variations.

I no longer enjoy bombastic, Romantic Period works written for full orchestra. I find them superficial.

I never listened to any of these things that I listen to now, in the folly of my youth. What a jerk I was!

Happily, I've evolved into "listening perfection".

My 20's and 30's? Blocked out the unpleasant memories completely.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Childhood Lots of White Heather club on TV, Kenneth McKellar, Andy Stewart et al. In school we sang folk songs & learned square dances.  Listened to folk and country on the radio. Learnt piano but not much of an impact. Family tradition was mainly Irish folk. (if anything)

Adolescence Liked pop music and folk. Moved into Woody Guthrie via Dylan.

Young Adulthood More and more folk and early music. Lots of folk dancing. Took up the piano and got hooked on baroque.

Middle Adulthood Busy with work, but mainly folk & early music. Folk dancing moved from English to Scottish country

Late Adulthood Took up the piano. Started to get to grips with Baroque. When Ingélou took up fiddle, we found, through her teacher a local Baroque group.







Then two years ago we joined TC and I am into early music and Baroque.

I don't think my tastes have changed that much although I've moved from folk to Baroque. I still enjoy a good dance tune whether it's Bach or bluegrass. I think my range has widened and my understanding of music deepened.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

20centrfuge said:


> There is something about being a teenager that we want to hold on to.


That's the main reason I have albums by Tangerine Dream, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Faust, Captain Beefheart, Velvet Underground, Cabaret Voltaire and some others. I like the idea of having a record (pun intended) of where I came from, musically. I still kind of like them, but they're very much on the sidelines of my interest. I've never found a nostalgia radio station that plays what I was into as a youth/young adult :lol:


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I came to this world as a 80 year old man and have become progressively younger ever since. At first naturally I listened to old people's music - classical that is and when I entered middle adulthood, I started listening to classic rock, and as a young adult I was into progressive metal. Now that I'm turning into a teenager I feel like rebelling against society so punk rock is my passion. I don't know what I will listen to as a child since I'm not there yet.


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## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

Childhood - Awakened by Beethoven

Adolescence to Young Adulthood - Explore, absorb, and digest (or spit out) everything: 
Renaissance to Modern Western Classical, Old and New Jazz, Indian Ragas & Kirtans, East Asian Classical & Folk, & Pop (passively).

Middle Adulthood - Increasingly unable to enjoy or tolerate many genres, composers, performers, or types of music or types of performances, or attitudes....


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## Rehydration (Jun 25, 2013)

*CHILDHOOD:*
My dad tells me all the time that there was once a classical pianist who, when he was five years of age, said, "I don't like jazz."
That statement is not a lie. I used to hate jazz. And rock. And pop. Anything that wasn't classical, I classified as amplified noise. 
I even told my dad what I thought about him blasting Beatles around the house one time when I was six. He laughed and shook his head, as if he knew I would grow out of it.
Which I did. In a big way.

*EARLY ADOLESCENCE:*
I started changing my tastes a little when I was eleven. Before then, my music listening was just turning on Sirius XM and listening to the Symphony Hall or Pops stations. Then my school gave us middle schoolers laptops, and my world was expanded with Youtube.
Around then I got a piano collection from my grandmother which was at my level at the time. It was called "Standard Piano Classics", and I loved every bit of it. Well, except for the last piece in the book, which the blurb on the back cover called, "Debussy's haunting First Arabesque". I wasn't about to play something that was haunting. But one day I went for it, and I loved every bar. It was my first experience playing Debussy, and to this day I still adore his music.
I also started to appreciate jazz. I joined my school's jazz band in the fifth grade, playing horn (hah, I know, right? There were French horns in my school's jazz ensemble) and piano.

*LATE ADOLESCENCE (i.e. NOW):*
I am somehow gravitationally attracted to French impressionist composers. Debussy, Ravel, Gaubert, Faure, Poulenc, and others like them feed my soul.
Chabrier's Espana is one of my favorite pieces. Likewise, Ravel's Bolero, and Debussy's La mer inspire me. Gaubert's works for flute and piano are some of the most relaxing pieces of music I have ever listened to.
Sometime last year I got into choral music (and composing it!). Eric Whitacre and Karl Jenkins are two of the examples I listen to frequently.
Bach is hard to understand sometimes... but I like him because his music feels like Escher's art.
I recently discovered an interest in electronic music. Anything that inspires me: Mr. Suicide Sheep runs a good channel on Youtube for anyone who is interested in discovering something new. My favorite artist, MitiS, is also a concert pianist. Unfortunately I haven't ever heard him play but apparently he's professional. I also enjoy KOAN Sound, Singularity, Au5, Fractal, and Oh Wonder.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Rehydration said:


> I started changing my tastes a little when I was eleven. Before then, my music listening was just turning on Sirius XM and listening to the Symphony Hall or Pops stations. Then my school gave us middle schoolers laptops, and my world was expanded with Youtube.


Rehydration wins the day's award for sentences that make me feel old.


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## Rehydration (Jun 25, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> Rehydration wins the day's award for sentences that make me feel old.


I try. 

(Extra characters because message is too short...)


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

*Childhood*: Whatever was on the radio, some 70s/80s pop, some classical.
* Early Adolescence*: Classical.
*Late Adolescence, Early Adulthood, Mid-Adulthood, Late Adulthood*: Well, I just have to wait and see.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

*CHILDHOOD* - My family listened exclusively to white gospel music. Sandi Patty, Steve Green, Jeff & Sheri Easter (who came to our church before they got "famous"), Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant.... Occasionally I heard some popular music at a friend's house, but I followed my parents believing that rock was satanic. We made an exception for Carman, a partial exception for Petra who were just a little too much rock. David Meece was my favorite.

*ADOLESCENCE * - I discovered John Diliberto's show _Echoes_ and started recording it whenever I could get a spare cassette tape. I wish I'd kept those old tapes. That was just me being "weird." My family tolerated it: it didn't fit in any obvious way into their ethically dualistic view of the musical cosmos. But I began moving away from my parents' view of the world as a junior in high school, and around that time I started exploring classic rock mostly, but everything a little. I didn't have much money, but I did get into classical a little: especially Crumb and Takemitsu, as I've written elsewhere.

*EARLY ADULTHOOD* - In my 20s I went wild. It was the age of Napster and I was unscrupulous. I was into all old pop: Hank Williams, Marvin Gaye, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Elvis, the Doors, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, whatever. As long as it was before about 1980, when my prejudices kicked in. I'd explored a little more classical music as well: random bits of Mozart, Mahler, Chopin, Golijov.

*MIDDLE ADULTHOOD* - By my late 20s I'd begun to systematically explore classical music and jazz, more for self-education than for pleasure, and in my late 30s that project is ongoing. I feel like I should be finished; I know more about classical music than 99.9% of the people out there, I should probably be satisfied. World music is my biggest weakness; I hope to address that over the coming decade or so, and I know I need to explore jazz more too. I rarely listen to popular music anymore, but I'm still curious about its history. Probably 90% of the music I listen to is classical, spread across the range of musical history, with some emphasis on the more famous stuff. In terms of what I enjoy most, it is without a doubt post-WWII classical music, the stranger the better.

*LATE ADULTHOOD* - I hope I get to find out!


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