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How imprinted are you?

Wade Cornell

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Numerous studies have shown that humans imprint on a style of music associated with a period between adolescence and 20 something. These are formative years in which we actively disassociate with music and taste of our parents and instead take up the prevalent music of our peers.

As people who actively engage in music making (and the music is seldom from our "imprint years"), I'm curious to hear where individuals have drawn lines as to what they will listen to and what get's shut out. Is there a strong desire to play music from those imprint years? Have some (all?) of you evolved past thinking whatever you listened to at age 18 was the best music of all time? What's the "furthest out" music that you enjoy and would like to share and see if others ears are open?

This is an invitation to share, so hopefully there will be some respect for each person's "out there" choices. The real question is can you keep your mind and ears open to hear what might be special about that person's choices?

P.S. This is NOT and invitation to share your FAVORITE music...it's about stretching and opening our ears to styles, rhythms, harmonies etc. that we may have never heard.
 
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I'm still in this imprinting stage, so I suppose I'm not the most able contributor to this thread. Nonetheless, I detest the pop/ rap music most kids my age listen to, perhaps I'll feel differently in a few decades. I used to like what my parents like (classic rock) and still do, but my tastes have been going back further and further in time, before I know it I'll be listening to stones clashing :p
 
I'm still in this imprinting stage, so I suppose I'm not the most able contributor to this thread. Nonetheless, I detest the pop/ rap music most kids my age listen to, perhaps I'll feel differently in a few decades. I used to like what my parents like (classic rock) and still do, but my tastes have been going back further and further in time, before I know it I'll be listening to stones clashing :p

I hear you! I was a complete music nerd. Only listened to Classical and Jazz. Of course 1950s and early 60s pop music was unbelievably bad and only became a bit more interesting later on. It was the days of "payola", which meant that a record publisher would pay radio stations to play their records and tell "the kids" that it was #1, so the little jerks would go out and buy it because some DJ said it was #1 !!!! What it sounded like was not as important as owning the #1 hit. Fake news ain't got nothing on the music industry!
 
My musical tastes have widened considerably over the years. Born in 1964. I grew up loving Motown and soul. I found my own music loves in various pop and rock during the late 70s anything from The Osmonds to Queen and Hawkwind. My huband introduced me to the likes of Led Zeppelin and Neil Young. Since learning sax I have found a connection with jazz that I am exploring. Over the years I have briefly flirted with classical and do enjoy playing some of the pieces @tenorviol has brought to the cafe sextet. I have enjoyed some country and western. I never quite got punk or rap but find some of it listenable. Folk music is probably where my listening is lacking.

I think what I listen to is dependent on my mood or where I want my mood to be. What I play is usually dependant on others at the moment :)

Jx
 
Good question. Parents always played classical. Some Winifred Attwell. I was a choirboy, hymns, anthems... Friend became a classical pianist, convinced me that pop, especially the Beatles that I loved, was rubbish. School/peer pressure steered me towards rock, not soul, then I got bored with the rock/noise, got into folk for a long time. Lived in Africa, really appreciated the rhythms and different harmonies. Rediscoveted classical with Beethoven's 5th symphony. Now.... Pretty much anything, but with a strong leaning to classical, blues. Have never been able to enjoy atonal/12 tone experiments. Currently boogie woogie hits me hard, but so does Bach. So although not musically omnivorous, I have wide ranging tastes, depending on mood.
 
I think that the period you call "imprint years" is just the period that one searches for one's identity, develops one's personality.....
What I have seen is that children under 12 years old generaly folow what is presented to them (by their parents, school, friends, .....). And from about 12 years old, they start seeking what appeals to them, making their own choices. And I think that also applies to music.
Personaly I wasn't very much into music before I was arround 15 or 16 (from what I can recall), and I only realy started to listen to Jazz after I was 20.
Now I have a rather eclectic musical taste. Some rock, pop, some folk even, Jazz is what I like most (but not all jazz), some stuff that doesn't fit in any category .... Generaly speaking I don't like music where they play "too many notes" or too much instrument's playing at the same time. A jazz quartet suits me fine......
Clasical music doesn't appeal to me much, I don't have a distaste for it, but I won't seek it....
 
In the imprint years, I was financially restricted and ended up musically restricted as well - to the top 20 plus stuff my earning mates listened to i.e Rick Wakeman and some strange spacey stuff including War of the Worlds. Uni expanded my musical horizons but then life got in the way and I didn't listen to much music for quite some time. Then along came the sax, classical, quartet stuff, jazz, wind bands, ska bands, soul bands and I'm now completely unfettered; equally enjoying playing along to Guns N Roses, George Michael, Sade, Springsteen, Lou Reed, Camilla Cabello, Pink Floyd, Brasshouse (hence the new and probably impractical desire to play baritone in my early 60's) etc etc........
 
Born in 61 so my imprint years were the 70’s 80’s, was close to my uncle at around 10yrs old onwards he was a big influence on my taste.
He loved soul,motown,funk so those are my first loves in music and still are, the 70’s i discovered Northern Soul.
I was hooked big time even to the look, hair grown, penny rounds tank tops the lot, even learning the dance moves. Still love NS, to me it’s ‘happy music’ !
After NS dwindled in popularity with clubs closing etc, my taste turned to New Romantics era due to a work colleagues influence, the NR era it didn’t last long.
Along came Red Hot Chilli Peppers early 80’s, something about their music grabbed me (still does)
Nothing in music after them has captured my imagination, i listen to Jazz a lot now due to my sax, Jazz would never have been a choice if i hadn’t picked up the sax !
It’s funny how my kids and the older grandkids love to listen to RHCP !


Edit.....
Agree with Veggie Dave about country, can’t listen to it at all.
 
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I have to say that I have very little interest in playing music from my 'imprint' years, even though I do still regularly listen to it.

As for what I can't listen to, the only genre I can think of that I find to be mostly worthless is country. Its associated politics doesn't help its cause, either.
 

There's a lot of good music in the rap world, and a lot more dreadful stuff. ;)

The style that is rap has a very, very long history. Well beyond what I think many people, certainly in the hip-hop scene, realise. When I first heard French troubadour lyrical poetry I was amazed. Considering they disappeared in the middle of the 14th century, what they did was rap over a rhythmical backing. Lyrically, there are many similarities as well. Even the metering is recognisable.
 
Born in 1947 as one of the first wave of "baby boomers" after world war II my formative years were spent listening to folk music, early rock and roll, and popular classics like "Rhapsody in Blue". When I started playing saxophone when I was 10 years old I was attracted to Paul Desmond, Cannonball Adderly, Boots Randolph, and Stan Getz. At the University in 1966 I was introduced to "big band" music with the recordings of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. The popular music I listened to in the '60's included the "horn bands" Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears. The literature I performed in the university symphonic band helped shape my affinity for classical wind band literature.

Today I'm an "unabashed" old fogey who needs to hear melody, harmony, rhythm, and form in what I enjoy listening to along with timbres that are not too harsh, and volumes that are not too loud. In addition my choice of music needs to have substance. I find "smooth jazz" to be too "trite" and boring.

My criterion for music is simple. After listening to a piece 3 or 4 times I want to hear it again then its a "keeper". If my reaction is "Oh God, not that song again" it is not. :)
 
I have to say that I have very little interest in playing music from my 'imprint' years, even though I do still regularly listen to it.

As for what I can't listen to, the only genre I can think of that I find to be mostly worthless is country. Its associated politics doesn't help its cause, either.
I agree 100%. I can’t stand country. The rhythms, harmonies, instrumentation and those nasally vocals. I swear, it makes me break out in hives. I would rather listen to jack hammers tearing up the street.
 
Eagles, Ry Cooder, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Woodie Guthrie. Earl Scruugs and Lester Flatt. Bonnie Rait, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith All come under the Country label. Some of them modern cowboy songs are quite well crafted and fun to sing. Who's not questioned the DJ about Alice?

Born mid 50's there was only the radio and a bit of telly. First record player was the Radiogramme in the living room. Not allowed near the 78's, so always a parents choice, Frankie Vaughan was mums favourite and Mikey and Griff were dad's. I remember Cliff being in there too.

I'll listen to more diverse music than I play. I like to play Jazz and swing with a dance tempo but I'll listen to anything. Not much classical. My favourite time is the 20's 30's and 40's. All well before I was born and never played by my parents.

I classify music into two groups, good and bad. I subdivide these groups into that which I like and that which I don't. Some of the bad music is in the like grouping and some of the good music is in the dislike.
 
As for what I can't listen to, the only genre I can think of that I find to be mostly worthless is country. Its associated politics doesn't help its cause, either.
I don't know what country music you have or haven't been listening to but the first name I think of as country is Hank Williams and I'm not aware of his work being considered political although I haven't heard all of it.
I'd rewrite your sentence as:
As for what I can't listen to, the only genre I can think of that I find to be worthless is rap. Its associated politics and foul mouthed lyrics don't help its cause, either.
 
At 44 I don't consider myself to be out of my Formative Years (not sure I like the term imprint, it might be a useful Psychological term, but I'll leave that to the Psychologists). I'm an unabashed embracer of music streaming and I use it to the full to dip in and out of whatever I fancy listening to. It might be music I listened to when I was a child, or a teenager, or stuff we play in the Band, or a genre of music I've never listened to before and come across a review online. It's all grist for the mill and there will always be swathes of music to dip into and either embrace or move on from.
 
Having been borth with the attention span of a gnat, I was actively listening to in no particular order Beethoven, Stravinsky, Django Miles D and Cannonball ,Hendrix, Junior Walker, Grateful Dead, Clapton, Stones Beatles Hank Williams, Segovia.....you get my drift.

At that time I was singing in a rock cover band, jamming on bass all over and playing guitar and sax with others. I still wish I could concentrate on one style of music but accept that will never happen. Having fun in R & B Gypsy Jazz and one real pro band where we do whatever song we want in a variety of styles from jazz to blues to country and folk.
 

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