Peer Pressure in Music
Is there peer pressure in music? Yes, certainly. For the most part, you can tell the kind of musician someone is just by the kinds of people he or she hangs out with, or the kind of music that the person listens to. There are very few instances where you'll come across people who, for example, listen to metal music, hang out with people who listen to metal music, and play classical music on their instrument.
You may not say it's peer pressure, it's more like influence. That's not wrong, but it's also pressure, more than you know.
Let's do an experiment. It's safe for me to assume that you have friends who listen to some sort of electronically created music, EDM, rap, whatever. The next time you're around them play something like country music (personally, I like country music but most people don't). What do you think will happen? They'll probably tell you something along the lines of "stop playing trash music in the car" or something which makes you feel like the music you're playing isn't good to the ear, even though you may like it.
Now imagine if you hang out with these people regularly. What do you think will happen then? You'll develop an ear for the music they listen to, and you'll eventually reduce listening to the music you earlier liked so much...
You see how your friends and the people around you shape your taste in music?
Alright, so what's the point of this article?
Here's what this article is about: Your choice of music can affect your quality of playing an instrument.
If you listen to contemporary music, for example, it's electronically created, and to play the same melody on an instrument doesn't take much. Maybe a few chords, a particular tune, and most beginner guitarists can master these electronically created tunes, because there isn't much depth and detail in today's music.
I have friends who listen to contemporary music, and they've been playing their instruments for years, but all they do is try to recreate the songs they listen to on their instrument to impress their friends. They think they're good players. Now if you try to take these guitar learners, especially if they're self taught, and try to make them play something like Sweet Child O' Mine, they will find it difficult. That's because the contemporary music doesn't really have riffs, it doesn't have solos, it doesn't require you to hammer strings on the guitar or play one hand over the other on the piano. Any beginner can play contemporary music.
If you like contemporary music, it's fine, not bad, you can relate to today's generation of teens more. Good stuff. However, don't let this hinder your growth as a musician. Go back to the music of the 80s, where the music actually required you to have skills to play on your instrument. Play things beginners can't, and you'll only find such pieces if you go back in time to 20 or 40 years ago.
You may not say it's peer pressure, it's more like influence. That's not wrong, but it's also pressure, more than you know.
Let's do an experiment. It's safe for me to assume that you have friends who listen to some sort of electronically created music, EDM, rap, whatever. The next time you're around them play something like country music (personally, I like country music but most people don't). What do you think will happen? They'll probably tell you something along the lines of "stop playing trash music in the car" or something which makes you feel like the music you're playing isn't good to the ear, even though you may like it.
Now imagine if you hang out with these people regularly. What do you think will happen then? You'll develop an ear for the music they listen to, and you'll eventually reduce listening to the music you earlier liked so much...
You see how your friends and the people around you shape your taste in music?
Alright, so what's the point of this article?
Here's what this article is about: Your choice of music can affect your quality of playing an instrument.
If you listen to contemporary music, for example, it's electronically created, and to play the same melody on an instrument doesn't take much. Maybe a few chords, a particular tune, and most beginner guitarists can master these electronically created tunes, because there isn't much depth and detail in today's music.
I have friends who listen to contemporary music, and they've been playing their instruments for years, but all they do is try to recreate the songs they listen to on their instrument to impress their friends. They think they're good players. Now if you try to take these guitar learners, especially if they're self taught, and try to make them play something like Sweet Child O' Mine, they will find it difficult. That's because the contemporary music doesn't really have riffs, it doesn't have solos, it doesn't require you to hammer strings on the guitar or play one hand over the other on the piano. Any beginner can play contemporary music.
If you like contemporary music, it's fine, not bad, you can relate to today's generation of teens more. Good stuff. However, don't let this hinder your growth as a musician. Go back to the music of the 80s, where the music actually required you to have skills to play on your instrument. Play things beginners can't, and you'll only find such pieces if you go back in time to 20 or 40 years ago.
Comments
Post a Comment