Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Corey Leopold

August 15th, 2009 – Today I attended my first Italian party. In attendance was a semi-professional Italian opera singer who serenaded us. Actually, as the son of the host explained to me, it wasn’t so much opera as pop opera; think Pavarotti more than Puccini. The singer’s voice was at once powerful and emotional, and I don’t think I would have experienced that type of music if I hadn’t been there tonight. It was definitely a good capper to a fantastic night.

That got me thinking about how closed off our experiences are these days. We like to think that the wider access things like the internet and international travel bring provide us with more experiences, but this isn’t necessarily true. There may be lots of different types of music, but likely we’ll listen to a radio station, or have a group of friends that listens to a certain type of music. It’s easy to get stuck listening to music all in the same genre.

If you want to listen to only hip hop, you can easily tune into a certain website, podcast, radio station, or go to a certain club. If you want to listen to indie rock, the same applies. There isn’t a place where you can get overlap. If you immerse yourself in one type of music, your own songs will sound like what you listen to. This means that you might not bringing anything new or unique to the table. Groundbreaking artists have their own style developed from their specific musical experiences.

Listen to as many different styles as you can. You don’t have to like them all, but you can at least get a little taste of something different. It’ll help your own music. I really don’t do that enough, and I need to make more of an effort.