Listen outside the box

I want to challenge everyone (myself included) to spend at least five minutes each day listening to something new for one week. We tend to get in a musical rut of listening to the same style of music every day. Try something different, and I don’t mean a different band that is simmilar to your favorite group, or a different song on your favorite album. I know what you are thinking, “I already like many different kinds of music. I like rock, country, jazz and even little classical.” I’m asking you to think even broader than that. Get out of the box and try something TOTALLY different or something you don’t think you would like.

Try jazz, blues, Broadway musicals or even new age, classical and world music. Have you ever tried Gregorian chant, birdsong, disco, Opera or Latin music? What about John Cage (I’ll give you bonus points if you know who that is), Minimalism, soundscapes, or choral music? The first time you hear something new and different, you may not like it. But as your mother always said, you have to keep trying new foods and soon you will develop an “aquired taste” for them. Neurons in your brain actually train themselves to make sense of new and different sounds with repeated listening of something new.

Children are much more open to different kinds of music. Make it a point to expose them to various styles of music. Classical music is good to help them focus their minds during homework and study time. New age music can promote a sense of peace and stability during hectic parts of the day. Jazz and pop music makes us feel happy and can brighten up a dreary day or help us to feel more energetic about activities like housework and exercise. Exposure to world music helps us broaden our tastes and experience different cultures and languages.

As a preschooler, I was exposed to classical music. My grandmother loved to listen to the Strauss Walztes and my aunt practiced piano while I danced around the room. To this day, I still love (and prefer) classical music. The opportunities to listen to a different style of music has affected me my entire life and become a large part of who I am today. Teenagers are not supposed to like classical music, right? Well, no one told ME that. I was probably the only 17 year old blaring Beethoven from my car and listening to Chopin, Debussy and Bach in my room at night. I also enjoyed Motown, Jazz and alternative music as a teenager. And believe it or not, I even listened to disco (Bee Gee’s anyone?).

One type of music that I did not like as a teenager was modern classical music. I liked Beethoven, Bach, Chopin and Debussy but would not give John Cage, Stravinsky, Philip Glass or Shostakovich a chance. I remember the first piece my piano teacher introduced to me from this style. I was not very receptive. That music was “weird.” I thought it sounded like something a child banging at the keyboard. But with repeated exposure, my brain learned to make sense of it. Thanks to my piano teachers as well as the percussion department, I was exposed to a lot of new music. Without that exposure, I would have been missing out on a lot of beautiful, ingenious music.

I know I need to work on having an open mind too. There are still pieces of music and styles that I do not like. After listening to a new style of music, you may still find that you do not like it. But please, do not forward your own tastes about music and art on to your children. Allow them to form their own ideas by simply being exposed to many different options. Don’t deny them the opportunity to broaden their minds. Who knows, you may like it too!