Wow. That is one question I have NEVER been able to answer.
There is sooo much music....sooo much.
I used to get asked that question a lot by my middle school students. Usually it was asked in sort of a snotty middle school way. In fact, I think even though they were asking me "What is your favorite song?" the REAL question they meant to ask was, "Don't you like any GOOD music?"
Siggghhhh....
What they didn't know is the that the ACTUAL REAL question they were asking probably was something more like this: "Why is it that you and all the other adults in the world are such tasteless old fogeys that you can't see that MY favorite song/singer/genre is the absolute best song/singer/genre of music that there has ever been or will be, based on my infinite knowledge of all music in the universe?
Bigger Siggghhh....
So.
It became my task to try to take all these opinionated, all knowing (just ask them) tweeny-boppers and take them out of their comfort zone by introducing them to actual GOOD music in as many different genres as possible, keeping in mind that EVERYONE eventually had a concert to prepare for, where the expectations from the general public would be that we would give them something WELL within their own personal comfort zones of what they would consider to be GOOD music.
I feel badly about the fact that nearly all the time, my most popular concerts were those during which we performed the most music that everyone ALREADY HAD HEARD BEFORE.
Huge sigh of frustration....
I don't know when I became a learner. It was early on. Probably when, in Miss Jorgensen's first grade class, it tried to learn to read my Dick and Jane (and Spot and Puff) stories just as FAST as my friends and third-or-so cousins Ricky and Mary. Or maybe it was when I fell in love with stories that Mrs. Petersen read to us in third grade, Charlotte's Web, and the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder saga, and I knew that the world was full of so many wonderful books to experience Or maybe it wasn't until much later and I had discovered the Internet, and found that the whole world was at my fingertips (VERY LITERALLY) waiting for me to learn more about it.
So, anyway, that's exactly how I feel about music. I refer to my taste in music as schizophrenically eclectic.
I am sure I can tell you at least one piece of music from as many different genres of music as you can name that I really like. Keep in mind that I don't like EVERY piece of music from any one genre. And I am NEVER going to like music with certain themes. Gratuitous sexual content, violence, profanity, or an attitude of selfish indulgence are not going to be themes of the music I like.
Other than that, I am pretty open to all things musical.
Ask my students. I had an assignment that I sooo enjoyed doing with them. Where they had to find a GOOD piece of music representing a genre of music with which they were not at all familiar, and present it to the class.
Wow.
I learned some stuff, and I hope they did, too!
One thing I learned, is that students approached the assignment in one of two ways. One way was to jump in head first, listen to a LOT of different stuff and then find something really really intriguing, strange, fascinating, and GOOD for their example.
The second way was to cheat and take the easy, or the safest way out. Like one kid chose "Western" as his style, because, after all, it was different than his favorite, which was Country.
The kids who had the most fun were those who found a love for something completely out of their comfort zone. Indonesian gamelon music, or Mongolian, Inuit or country western throat-singing (you wouldn't believe how many cultures have jumped on the overtone singing bandwagon) , or Klezmer, or Medieval Folk Rock, or just plain old Baroque. Eyes and ears were opened. Students enjoyed something other than THEIR kind of music. And hopefully, I became the Miss Jorgensen, or the Mrs. Petersen(or son) of their world in some small way.
MY favorite concerts were the ones where I got to present kids singing something new and different to them. Like when our combined choirs sang "Adiemus" by Karl Jenkins, which is a piece in a made up language and a new age/world beat style. Or "This Is My Maker's World" by Sheldon Curry, which combines a Presbyterian hymn and a Swahili chant. Or "Love You" which is a piece made popular again by an airline commercial, but was an example by the group Free Design of a piece that combined Sunshine and Baroque Pop styles that were popular for a time in the late 1960's.
I could go on.
And on.
And on.
And I'm sure I've forgotten most of my favorites over the years.
Anyway....there is an "unfortunately" to all this.
I found when I was teaching that MANY students were reluctant to step forth from the comfort of their dearest, most familiar favorites and experience something new in the world. And yeah, I know it was my job to inspire them, etc. but the truth is, it's such hard work. Like beating your fist on a wall harder than a diamond for millions of years (Dr. Who reference....I'm a nerd, yes) hard.
How do you make people want to learn something every day?
I have to say, I really don't know.
I guess I've reached the point in my life where I am going to continue to do what I do. Which is learn things. And not worry so much about what everyone else wants to do. If you stepped into my shop today, you would see examples of what I've learned the last 7 1/2 months or so. Some days I just learn little things. But it's always something. Like today, I was going through my weird playlist on my iPhone, and wondering if I need to learn to play the ukulele (yes), and if I need to sit down for many hours at the piano and re-learn (even better than the first time) Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, and wondering if my voice can handle working on Wagner's Wesendonck Songs, plus the duet version of Dirait-on by Morten Lauridsen so Nick and I can sing it together if and when I see him sometime...siggghhhh....
And I wonder....
I hope I was someone's Miss Jorgensen. Or Mrs. Petersen(sen) There had to be someone who learned to love to learn from me. And if there was one, it was worth it.
p.s. If you want to do the music genre experiment, go to List of styles of music A-F, and start looking down the list for something that floats your boat in a new and interesting way. Then go to the G-M, N-R, and S-Z. pages and find some more. Then go to YouTube and see if you can find an example. Have fun. Find something out of your comfort/knowledge zone. And love something new today.
p.p.s. I have a thing about public domain and copyright violations, which is why I didn't link to any actual music in this post. I'm pretty sure this song is in the public domain, so enjoy :)
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