Comments on: On Classical Music and Elitism

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:52:33 +0000

I came upon your blog while I was browsing and I’ve got to say, I don’t really have an opinion on the whole elitist thing or w/e. But if you tell a person that classical music will raise your ACT scores, everyone listens to it for a month before the ACT! It’s pretty awesome in fact. Everyone kept wanting mozart and bach’s fugues, etc. before the ACT at my school. But just a music suggestion. I’m sure you’ve heard of Rachmaninoff, but if you haven’t, you should definitely check him out because piano concerto no. 2 is the best. I’ve listened to it so many times!

By: Caity

Caity — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:47:53 +0000

Having studied music myself and being a lover of classical music in pretty much the same way you are, I lift my cup to you in an elegant toast!

By: Regina

Regina — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:59:06 +0000

My true appreciation of classical music was brought on by the fact that I had to take several music history classes to get my piano certification. I don’t think people realize how much modern music is based off of classical music. The chord progressions, structure, and ideas have transcended time and what we’re listening to now was formed from music produced hundreds of years ago. Having said that, I don’t think anyone should judge others based on their musical tast, nor do I think anyone should limit themselves to listening to ONLY one genre of music.
I don’t think all classical music is necessarily “deep”, but I guess it depends on whether you mean classical as in the genre, or classical as the era. Organum in my opinion isn’t “deep”, but fugues sure as hell are.
I’m looking forward to your next few music related posts.

By: Jojo

Jojo — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:54:36 +0000

I agree with you about Classical music being for everyone! I never understood certain people who would go around ONLY listening and confining themselves to one type of music or genre. I love all types of music and I would never rule out certain genres. I happen to love classical music too, sometimes it really helps me to relax. For a while, I even listened to some piano pieces to help me drift off to sleep! I’m sure you know Yiruma’s “River Flows in You” piece ^^ xoxo

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:20:11 +0000

I think the “deeper” thing has to be taken along with the “better” – it’s just my opinion, because everybody finds different things deep, just like they find different music good or bad. I class it as deep though because of the complexity of the different melodies and harmonies, the textures and ranges of timbres found in classical music, which I’ve just not experienced in such great detail in any other kind of music.

By: Hanna

Hanna — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:21:30 +0000

Well I know that I am certain kind of elitist when it comes to music occasionally. I try not to be, but sometimes it happens. At the moment classical isn’t something I listen to, I don’t hate it. I think I have one album of classic music even… and who knows maybe I will start listening to it in future.

But saying that classical music (whether it’s western or not) is “deeper” than any other other music… uh I disagree. How do you even measure or determine this “deepness” of music? Why couldn’t some random rock/rap/jazz/blues/emo/metal… etc artist create song that is just as “deep” or even “deeper” than random classical song? Perhaps I don’t know the answer, because I don’t listen to classical music.

By: Kristine

Kristine — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:41:22 +0000

I’ve gained a fondness for Classical and Baroque music once I started to learn how to play the violin, and even though I don’t play my instrument anymore, I still listen to Classical or Baroque. I find it easier for me to study when I’ve got instrumental music going on in the background.

To me, music is purely subjective and it all goes down to one’s taste, so sometimes I’m a little puzzled when people criticize others for the music they listen to.

I got a lot of “Oh, you listen to Classical? That’s so boring!” back in my middle school days.

By: Manda

Manda — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:19:44 +0000

I listened to classical music tons and tons when I was studying to be a classically trained ballet dancer. After all, classical music and classical ballet go hand in hand. Since I stopped dancing, though, I haven’t really listened to it much. I don’t mind classical music and will listen to if it someone plays it, but I’m much more into words than music overall.

By: Robmarie

Robmarie — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:54:05 +0000

The way I see it, there’s two kinds of people in the world: those who do things because of how *they* will be perceived, and those who do things because they genuinely love and appreciate them. Maybe the scary elitists you describe are among the group of people that get into that type of music because they think it will make them seem posh or whatever — not because they have a genuine appreciation for the music itself.

That being said, there’s no doubt that classical music has its benefits. It is actually the best type of music to expand your mind (in a quite literal sense — musicians’ minds are larger and more intra-connected than non-musicians!). Classical music also has the potential to evoke a wide range of emotions, and reinforce the ability to learn. And these are just a few benefits; undoubtedly, there are many more!

I agree that everyone should learn to listen classical music, but I think that -for the majority of people- this type of music is an acquired taste. I listen to Classical music occasionally, and I really enjoy symphonic renditions of metal songs (I know, I know… but it’s still awesome xD). Actually, the fact that metal shares a lot of classical qualities is amusing in itself!

By: Meg

Meg — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:32:09 +0000

A lot of the people I know who don’t like classical music don’t actually think it’s too different or too intellectual. Their superficial reason seems to be “It’s so boring! It puts me to sleep!” :p

Anyway, I like some classical music, just like I like some music from all genres. I’m not a huge fan of when people try to justify their music preferences as being better or more noble or more unique than other people’s, because I think it all comes down to personal preference. And most of the time, I tend to prefer music with words because above all, I like music with fun or meaningful lyrics. But then again, I don’t know anything about music despite having played violin for eight years and piano for two. (Basically, I can read music, I can play the instruments I mentioned, I can tell when notes are out of tune, and I can recognize some composers, but I never gained the appreciation for classical music every other violinist seems to have.)