?!

Is it to fill the void of silence? To distract you from the stresses of the day? To occupy your mind while working on mindless tasks? To dance? To sing? To feel happy, sad, or excited? To get to sleep? As part, or in lieu, of worship?

I’ve recently had a few in-depth discussions with friends about various aspects of music, and so it made me stop and wonder – why do I listen to music?

I listen to music for different reasons at different times. In the car, I listen to music to be entertained while I drive or sometimes to release some extra stress after a long day (or morning over my lunch break). At home, I sometimes listen to music to occupy my mind while I clean or otherwise work around the house. Other times, I listen to music to experience new sounds and thoughts and for sheer enjoyment. At work, I often listen to music to keep myself motivated.

On top of that, I typically listen to music for the musical part of it. One of my friends tends to listen to music for the words so she can memorize them and sing along. Another friend tends to listen to mostly instrumental music because he gets distracted by the lyrics. I like to listen to music to see how all of the sounds come together to make the song. Sometimes I’ll play a certain type of music to relax or chill out. Other times I’ll put on some “heavy” music to blow off some steam. Sometimes I’ll listen to dance-type music to enjoy the beat, and other times I’ll listen to something that is more vocal-centric to appreciate the amazing talents that are out there.

There are times when I will re-listen to a CD ten times in one day, each time finding different nuances within each song. This sometimes makes be enjoy the music more than I did before, and other times it can be disappointing. I’ve found many CDs that end up being quite lame when it comes to complexity and musicality. There are some discs that have been great “sellers” on the market, but really lack in many aspects.

I don’t consider myself to be a music snob, however. I will sit through songs from all genres and from all artists, and then, perhaps after hearing it a time or two, I will form an opinion about the song. Some things are difficult for me to tolerate – excessive vulgarity (as found in most rap music) and an emphasis on the “twang” of country music can both be difficult to sit through, but there are rap songs and country songs that I really enjoy. I like classical, new age, techno/electronica/dance, rock, heavy metal, soft rock, indie, emo, oldies, classic rock, opera, show tunes, chamber, orchestral, a capella, folk, and pop, with a little bit of country sprinkled around the edges. There is SO much good music out there that I can’t seem to get enough of it.

I’ve shared my ever-growing love for Pandora Radio with many of my friends, although I wonder how many of them have actually checked it out for themselves. Pandora allows you to create your own internet-based radio station(s), based on your musical tastes, for free. You can create an account and then enter the name of a song or an artist that suits your fancy at that particular moment. Pandora will then begin to play songs that are similar, in some way, to the song or artist that you first entered. As it plays, you have the ability to “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” the song, which helps your radio station become “tuned in” to the stuff that you really like to hear. You can also add additional references to a station, either to make it more selective or varied. Then, once you’ve created a station you like, you can allow it to play from your computer while you sit at your desk, work around the house, or where ever you listen to music from a computer. They have also created means by which to play your stations from many cell phones and have worked with some manufactures to create home stereo components that allow your music to stream through your in-place hi-fi setup. It is really one of the neatest things I’ve ever seen. Now if they would just finish the application for the Blackberry so I can listen on-the-go…

That’s more than enough of my babbling. It’s your turn to reply. Why do YOU listen to music? How do you listen to music? Where do you do it? What do you enjoy the most about music? (C’mon, peeps – don’t make me beat it out of you )