Interviewing some of my floormates about music in their lives was interesting and really inspiring. I learned a lot more about them and their relationship to music than I thought. Many of them have been affected by music similar to me even though they don’t actively study music which was the most exciting part - it made me feel like less of an outsider being one of two music majors on my floor and the rest in science.
One of my friends spoke about music in a spiritual and emotional way, whereas their parents had brought them up on the music they listened to which heavily influenced the way they viewed music currently such as the genre. But what I found interesting was their opinion on a lot of new popular music. She had expressed how much she despised that a lot of music today takes little to no talent to create as it’s just an auto-tuned voice over a track the “artist” had no influence in producing. In that, she discussed how it just seems so wrong for artists who work so hard to make art while others can just throw together a song with no thought and make millions. Although I may not 100% agree with this idea, that some music is better than others, I do understand her point of view. It also made me realize that it’s interesting how she became more adept to music that is complicated (such as jazz, and rock and roll) and created with thought and intention just because of the music she was exposed to as a child.
Another person talked about how their musical understanding comes strictly from their experience in competitive skating. She explained to me how she looks at music completely different because of the focus that skating put on the elements of music. She has to understand rhythm, phrasing, lyric analysis, etc. Because of this, she always listens to music with a more deeper understanding of what’s going on because she has been trained to pick these things out and understand them. This was interesting because it’s the same kind of training that I go through (loosely) in my musical studies except they’ve been applied through the medium of skating. She also talked about how she has great musical memory. An example she gave was that when she hears a song that she did a skating routine to years ago, she still remembers all of the moves perfectly and it triggers her muscle memory. She also feels so many strong emotions and connections to many songs, even from the moment she hears the first few notes in the phrase. This is a skill that progresses through musical training; tonal and musical memory becoming stronger and triggering other senses and emotions.
Another big point that came up between all people was that they can rely on music to be emotionally stable or to influence their environment around them. Many talked about when they’re sad that they would listen to music and it would help them cope, or that it brings people together when they can bond over music. One of my floormates talked about how in depth she can get to know someone and connect with people through music whether it be live music or just listening to the same albums together.
The last important point that came up was the extent that everyone had studied music. Some of my floormates had done their grade 8 piano and sang in church all their life or had only listened to music in the locker room. However, everyone had felt that there was a lot of value in music education and exposure no matter the depth. One of my floormates had said that although she had completed grade 8 piano and sang in church choir all the time, she despised learning classical music because it just didn’t relate to her, but she agreed that learning it can be valuable. My other floormate had discussed that she grew and appreciation for classical music because she valued the talent and virtuosity it takes.
Someone else had also mentioned how the education of classical music can be important and also it is possible to teach it to all ages and demographics. She worked at a 1st grade class and the teacher had shown cartoons that shared music history and listenings of Beethoven. The young students could suddenly relate to this form of content and learned how to understand it through this paradigm. She also stated that she felt that it was possible to transfer this style of making classical music more accessible to those without formal training with this sort of method.
Overall, it was increasingly insightful to chat with the people I live with about music. It opened up a new and interesting dialogue between us that broke the barrier between some who study music and those who enjoy it casually.