Understanding Music

[jimtaylor]

I get made fun of all the time by my family and friends for how often I listen to a single song or group of songs. I have been known to repeat the same song for hours on end which is why I invested in a good set of head phones so I don't drive other people insane. I do understand that emotional respone and thank you for bringing up your own story because it reminded me that yeah I do really only ever get emotional when listening to music. An emotionally charged and motivational song will create a response in me much better than most things in the world.

I do this a lot. And I always always have a song going on in my head. I remember my college roomate remarking that it was odd how sometimes I'd listen to the same song or group of songs over and over.

I believe what we are describing is a highly emotive response to music. The visions you see in response to a song are your mind's way of interpreting "why do I feel this way?" Once when I was teaching third grade, we listened to an informal concert/discussion with a local cellist. When he began playing the opening to Tchaikovsky's "Pas de Deux" (from the Nutcracker) I started crying. Well my kids thought this was just too funny. Then the cellist began telling them a story of how when Tchaikovsky was a child, he would be so touched by a on the music box that he would cry. THEN my kids' eyes got big, and they were looking at me and whispering to each other, "mrs harris, mrs harris...." When I was a little kid, my brother and I would listen to this record of various classical songs and play "What does it make you see?"

I don't know if you will find this helpful or not, but I have a hypothesis about it. This is certainly not a scientific study; its just an INFJ connecting very few dots. But I do think that this strong sensory-emotional connection is related both to my creativity and my bipolar disorder. IOW I think that somewhere in my DNA is a network of genes that can express in a number of ways, one being musical sensitivity, and another being prone to bipolar disorder. I suspect this may be why bipolar disorder is more frequent among musicians, artists, authors, etc. I often thought to myself that I hoped my kids would inherit half those genes, enough that they could really enjoy creative expression, but not so much to put them over the edge.

 

[Lerxst]

I do this all the time. I find a connection to the song and try to understand how this person felt when making their song. Live performances feel more intense. You can just look at the artist and tell this was an important part of their lives, its raw, and whether or not they have much facial expressions, I feel its like they are holding out their heart for everyone to see.

It's called drugs... and LOTS of them in many cases.

The only time I pay attention to the artist behind the song is if I actually like them as an artist; if they've proven themselves for years or multiple songs and have something unique to offer. If it's a one-hit wonder I just happen to think sounds "nice" chances are I won't care one way or another about who they are as people or artists.

There are only a few groups that have ever lived up to that standard to pique my interest enough to explore more about them and why they created the music they did. Yes, Jethro Tull/Ian Anderson, Rush, Dream Theater and Symphony X.