Are your music tastes eclectic or quite narrow?

[Barking Spiders]

Been reading some posts here where people they admit their music tastes are quite narrow, either by genre and/or era. Just wondering if those people with quite narrow taste have tried stuff they don't normally listen to but somehow just cant' get on with it. I'd be interested to know whether having narrow or broad tastes is more to do with brain bio-chemistry than social influences or exposure. Are any neuroscientists among us who might have an insight?

[Hellzero]

I hope you'll get at least one answer to your specific question...

[Waddo Soqable]

Cue the intro to "Hyperactive "....... " tell me about your childhood....."

[PaulThePlug]

Quite varied, (inc the Thomas Dolby above...) but nothing new for quite some time... Black Keys four or Five years back... Royal Blood (based on Trouble Coming... Radio X / X FM) sound interesting. might be the new one for the car...

Not a neuroscientist... but familiar with sound and vision 'minerals and suplements'... which might also sway ya music interests....

Edited May 13, 2021 by PaulThePlug

[Munurmunuh]

An eclectic assortment of a few narrow furrows.

[zbd1960]

My music tastes have evolved a lot and probably opposite way round to many. In my teens through to around 30 I was exclusively classical music. It started off as mainstream classical in my teens and broadened out to early music as I got older (i.e. baroque (pre-1750) and renaissance (pre-1600)). Some C20th featured, but I'm not a fan of atonal music or of serialism etc. 

I started to listen to some jazz around 30ish and then some New Age / World music. I'm not a fan of bebop - zillions of notes and running up and down scales isn't very musical in my view... ymmv. 

I started classical singing lessons in my 30s, which got me singing with choirs and performing concerts. I started playing viol (aka viola da gamba) in my 40s which introduced me to English consort music. In my 50s I added cello and sax and that got me playing with various orchestras and wind groups and a huge variety of music including music theatre, film music, even orchestrated 90s dance music (pic is of that concert where I was playing cello).

Bass is the most recent addition and I'm in the odd position of knowing very little 'rock' music - I rarely will know the title or artist of a piece even if it's something I've heard. I'm in my local 'Rock School' (joined 2 weeks before lockdown last year and have met once...) so I've had some bass lessons on stuff I've never encountered  

[Cat Burrito]

When I was younger it seemed I could only manage a genre at a time. Now my tastes range several genres. I think playing an instrument opens your ears and opens your mind.

[TheGreek]

I think my taste is quite diverse - bit of Classical, Jazz, Standards, R'n'R, Soul, Funk, Reggae...

Just about anything really that doesn't have screaming, distorted guitars.

[FinnDave]

I listen to a wide range of music - country, folk, blues, psychedelic - but all from a band that plays them all, the Grateful Dead.

I very occasionally listen to 1974 and earlier Gong and a little Kevin Ayers, but that's it. 

I never listen to streamed or radio music, so am completely (and happily) unaware of recent music.

I haven't a clue about brain biochemistry, so unfortunately cannot help with that part of the question.

[Lozz196]

Quite varied, mainly electric guitar based, either punk or rock, but also have stuff like Motown, ABBA, James Blunt, Wham. In my youth I was more genre loyal, now I’m more loyal to my ears, if they like they like, irrespective (though won’t have anything to do with extreme politics, either left or right).

[Doctor J]

I'd say quite varied, for sure. I primarily listen to electric guitar-based music but it can be metal, rock, blues, indie, alternative, etc. Even as a teen who listened primarily to metal (and was a devotee of thrash and death as they came along) I still listened to the likes of Chic at the time, getting into hip-hop at the tail end of the 80's. From there, I got into fusion and then more regular jazz and have a soft spot for a good trio. I quite liked a lot of the big-beat electronic music of the 90's and dig a bit of techno every now and then. A bit of folk and Americana is no harm either. You can't go wrong with old Motown and Stax, particularly the raw early stages of funk. I got into classical over the last decade and my good lady is quite partial to opera so I'm giving that a go, though it can be hard going at times. 
 

I've reached the age where a lot of modern pop music sounds like utter shite to me and I've never had time for that soulless, corporate pop particularly prevalent through the last 20 years.

[chris_b]

I'll play anything I'm asked.

Listening for pleasure? That's a much more specific thing!

[Bobthedog]

I will listen to and also try to play anything except for two types: Country AND Western.  😀

[Newfoundfreedom]

Extremely narrow. I will only listen to blind, dwarf Mongolian throat singers. 

It's a niche market. 

[Waddo Soqable]

I jocularly mentioned "childhood" as I guess that must be a huge influence on what you listen to.... As a kid the stuff played at home, my mum's choice mainly...was Classical, lots of symphonic stuff,  Beethoven, Mendelssohn, etc, plus quite a bit of classical piano, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg.... Alongside all this was Frank Sinatra, Nelson Riddle, Cole Porter, Mantovani...  All this stuff was all in my head and I could kind of sing along to myself to most of it.

Then came along Punk and I was rapidly off and away with that, leading to joining bands and the whole nine yards...so the short answer is "quite varied"  !

[meterman]

Reasonably eclectic for me.

Growing up, there was no pop music in the house unless I watched Top Of The Pops or listened to my little battery powered radio. My parents listened to Indian classical music, film soundtracks, Greek and Argentinian folk, opera and classical, free jazz, sometimes old blues tapes, etc, so that’s what I heard growing up.

The first records (yes I’m old) I bought were punk and disco and ‘charts’ reggae. Then I got hugely into 60’s psychedelic stuff and hip hop. When I moved to London I heard a lot more music and I realised I loved Brazilian and African music of all types, plus funk, soul, techno, house music, folk, jazz, classical, cumbia and vallenato, and still the Indian stuff from my childhood. I’m married into French family so listen unashamedly 😂 to a lot of French artists too.

I don’t listen to much rock music nowadays (of any kind) but I’ll still play The Stooges, or The Saints or the Clash occasionally. The only things I really don’t like are anything with Autotune in it, death metal (it gives me an instant soft-on) and the bored-millionaire rappers droning on and on about their Rolexes and stuff (hello Drake, etc).

I’m not a neuroscientist but I know what I like.
 

[SumOne]

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Extremely narrow. I will only listen to blind, dwarf Mongolian throat singers. 

It's a niche market. 

I prefer their earlier stuff before they went commercial.  

[Bassmidget209]

I would say I'm quite diverse. Growing up ironically I thought I didn't like music as the only stuff I was exposed to was the generic pop of the mid to late 90s (sister was a big steps fan). It wasn't until I got a hifi of my own I started investigating music in my own. In time I found indie then rock, rapidly morphing into punk which cemented a life long love  of rock, but punk especially. As I've gotten older I've explored other genres, with guitar and bass usually emphasising the songs I like. I've dived into soul and Motown, I like a lot of pop stuff, electronica, dance (even as I pretended not to like it as a teen). I don't know if anyone was listening to radio 6 this morning but the people's playlist was not too far away from my on repeat playlist on Spotify 😅. I really.like jazz as I don't really understand it! It takes me back to that kind of wonder of the unknown when I discovered punk music and first picked up a guitar ( I am aware of how rediculous that sounds 🤣).What I have noticed about myself is that my appreciation for a song, artist or genre can completely change if viewed from another angle eg seeing a documentary about them or seeing a live performance or something like that. The song doesn't change but I can go from finding it uninspiring to wanting to play it or learn it. 

As far as narrow/broad mindedness go, I suspect most of us on here will be relatively broad minded. I don't know about anyone else but if I hear a song with interesting bass or musical element I can appreciate it even if it's not from a genre or artist I appreciate. I believe you would need to see your genre as 'right' and others 'wrong' to have a truly narrow taste in music, I suspect most musicians don't feel that way, especially bassists! There is of course nostalgia. If certain music reminds you of good times dancing around with your friends etc you will get a jolt of dopamine everytime you hear it (Buck Rogers by feeder, Mr brightside by the killers and want you bad by offspring are three that jump out at me). 

I also had a weird thing in my head when I was younger that I associated feelings and emotions with colours in my head, certain songs were red and others were blue or purple, cold colours generally were more interesting with warmer colours dull and boring. Had nothing to do with band artwork or logos or anything, they would just sound 'red' haha. 

[BigRedX]

4 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

An eclectic assortment of a few narrow furrows.

I think this describes my musical tastes as well.

I'm always suspicious about people who claim to like almost anything or have a very broad musical taste as IME it makes them too undiscriminating. I want the musicians I work with to have definite likes and dislikes and not be afraid to express them. Someone who claims to like most things generally has no taste at all (IMO).

 

[SumOne]

It would seem I like quite varied music (Dub/Reggae, Funk, Stoner/Psychedelic Rock, Drum n Bass, Dubstep, Techno) but there is something linking them all that makes them similar in many ways - they are usually hypnotic/psychedelic/abstract and driven by the rhythm and are often more about building a mood rather than being catchy tunes with sing-along chorus.  I think for that reason people should be open to listening to a lot of styles because quite often it seems that different styles of music have  been written by people trying to convey similar feelings in the music - just due to time/technology/culture etc they have conveyed them in a different way (a bit like speaking different languages). 

[Barking Spiders]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I think this describes my musical tastes as well.

I'm always suspicious about people who claim to like almost anything or have a very broad musical taste as IME it makes them too undiscriminating. I want the musicians I work with to have definite likes and dislikes and not be afraid to express them. Someone who claims to like most things generally has no taste at all (IMO).

 

Yep, that's a good description of mine too. They cover a broad range of many genres but only a relatively small number of bands or solo artists within each, which kind of messes with Amazon recommendations.  Often on the radio you'll get a presenter asking a phone-in contestant what music they like. More often than not the answer is a bland ' I listen to anything reallllyyyyy' . Pity the presenter then can't spin a bit of Ornette Coleman or Killswitch Engage

Edited May 13, 2021 by Barking Spiders

[Dood]

I’m not really sure how to answer this, but I’m a “cerebral listener “ for want of a better description. I guess those who know me, also know that I am slightly (understatement) obsessed with how things work and understanding how things work.

What this tends to mean is that I listen to anything, often in great detail if it “hits the spot”. An analytical listener, with an open mind about genres. Given my job, having eclectic music tastes should be a benefit. 
 

Good music is good, even if it’s not your thing  

[StickyDBRmf]

Daniel J. Levitin - "This is Your Brain On Music" - musician, recording engineer, neuroscientist - great read, again and again. I am 63 and "like what I like", no rhyme, reason, or purpose. Some stuff I used to like bores me to death, and some I can listen to forever. Today. Maybe not tomorrow. Went to Berklee College of Music and was immediately put-off w/ the academia because they didn't seem to to get on w/ Dolphy, Monk, Don Ellis and Frank Zappa. Of course in middle school I was in a band doing Black Sabbath and Yes. Now F.Z. bores me except for music from Burnt Weenie to One Size. And I didn't even get to see him live until after Zoot Allures. So go figure. All I listen to is college stations on the radio while shopping for groceries. I like bands w/ female singers. I like the music I make up ( I wouldn't call them "songs" because nothing is complete and available for download) but they live in my head and they're funky and danceable. So eclectic. And QUITE NARROW. Today at least. The Wichita Lineman brings me to tears and stops me in my tracks. We had it in the jukebox@ the restaurant I had the staff would put it on if I was having a meltdown. Music. Go figure.

[Dan Dare]

I don't know nuffink about art but I know wot I like 😁

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I follow both genres:

Black Sabbath

Motörhead