Does your taste in music change with age?

[Robert]

I used to be into shredding music when I was a teenager. Then, I got into pop and west coast stuff like Toto and such. Then I got into Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert - again, but next stop was jazz. Blues, I've always had that happening deep down. I also got into John Hiatt and songwriters like that a few years back.

Nowadays, it's guys like Oz Noy and Bonamassa that make me inspired, if we're talking "newer" music/guitar players.

How about you, does your preferences change much over time?

 

[Katastrophe]

Absolutely. My tastes have gone from blues, to classic rock and oldies (50's), metal & thrash, shredders like Yngwie, Gilbert, Vai, Satriani and others, to country & southern rock. I guess that age helped me to widen my taste in music, rather than sticking to any particular genre.

 

[Eric]

How about you, does your preferences change much over time?

I don't know if I'd really say they change. I definitely expand my knowledge base through constant exploration, but I feel like I actually have a pretty reasonable set of themes going through music.

Sometimes I'll come across a new band that I like a lot, think about what I like about them, and then realize that those elements were present in some music I liked previously.

I'd say some level of fuzz/noise, sense of melody, and some degree of lyrical sincerity (if there are lyrics you can understand) usually rise to the top. There are other themes too, but those are the ones off the top of my head.

So I guess it's not really that my tastes change, but rather that I try a bunch of different styles and see what sticks, but I often see similar motifs shining through.

 

[marnold]

Mine have changed slightly, but I'm still into the metal/shred thing like I've always been. My horizons have been expanded to included more blues and flamenco. So I'd say "expanded" rather than "changed."

 

[otaypanky]

Lots of stuff came and went along the way. But what I listened to when I was 13-14 I still listen to and always have

 

[Geraint Jones]

I was a typical indie kid in the mid '80`s {Smiths , Fall ,Pixies et al} until I found my girlfriend`s Dad`s record collection this coincided with me picking up the guitar so Neil Young's Harvest ,the Stones Let it Bleed , Van Morrison ,Dylan ,Nick Drake and John Martyn were there to help me along , thru them I started listening to a lot more blues Robert Johnson,Lightnin Hopkins,Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker . Now I`m back to ACDC so the circles come right back round again .

 

[Kazz]

Count me in the "expanded" not changed group

 

[Commodore 64]

I used to love Quiet Riot but now I only listen to Air Supply.

 

[FrankenFretter]

My tastes have definitely changed over time. Expanded as well, but I don't listen to as much shredder stuff as I used to. I loved classic rock before it was classic, but now I've heard so much on the radio that most of the popular stuff from that genre gives me a headache. I listened to a lot of hair metal in the 80s, then laughed at that stuff in the 90s. Now I'm starting to listen to it again (willingly), and there's still much from that era that I find amusing and a few that are enjoyable still. I do listen to far more blues than I did as a younger man. I went through a classical music phase in the early to mid 90s, and even had some new age music in my collection at that time. Now I listen to a wide variety of genres, but classical and new age aren't among them. One thing that's remained constant since the 80s is my love of good guitar work.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I will say to most part expanded but not changed so much. I do listen to less of certain things such as some of my 80's stuff, but since leaving home for college at 18, my anchor tastes have been indie punkish garageish music that descended essentially from Chuck Berry, along with a healthy love of Jazz. Those anchor tenants have been joined by blues, celtic/woody sounding music, and since I started guitar, a return to, for lack of a better term, classic rock ala 70's guitar oriented rock. I do spend a lot of time listening to jazzed up blues. Throw some soul and funk in there too.

I have always listened according to I am in the mood for, and I have really not left too much behind. But I guess the main change, if any, is that blues has invaded my main anchors of indie/garage rock and jazz as a listening staple, and I listen to the local station that plays eclectic classic rock a lot more.

 

[Tig]

I never wanted to be one of those people who's music preference suddenly dies. You know, people who stop listening to anything new that came out after they graduated college? They get stuck. I try to keep an open mind to new stuff as long as it has quality writing and performance.

Mine have expanded and contracted! I grew up on 60's rock and 70's heavy metal, mixed with my Dad's love of jazz, R&B, and blues. The 80's was full of alternate, punk, new wave, etc., mixed with thrash (no hair metal). There's some classic stuff from the 80's that I still enjoy, but so much of it was pure crap. Quite a bit of the grunge era produced some timeless music that will live on.

Contracted: I just cannot listen to most 70's Southern rock after being over exposed to it growing up. I have a tough time listening to Lynyerd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, etc., anymore. Throw in any of the over played Led Zep tunes like "Stairway to Heaven", or AC/DC.

Also, music from the White Stripes turns me completely off, almost as bad as hip hop n gangsta rap. So yes, my age does get in the way of some new music. I have only so much time to listen, so I try to stick with the good stuff! Emo just doesn't make the cut.

I guess I'm still quite an eclectic listener, from progressive death metal to rockabilly, to jazz, blues, to grunge, to Tony Bennett, Elvis Costello, and on to Wolfmother and Muddy Waters. I have a few guilty pleasure mixed in, like Oasis, and Silversun Pickups.

 

[Bloozcat]

Oh, sure. But, I'd consider it expansion rather than change. Although there are bands that I loved to listen to when I was young that I don't really listen to today, my core preferences in music are similar than when I was younger.

The difference is in how many more styles of music I've become open to as I've gotten older. When I was in my teens I wouldn't be caught dead listening to someone like Frank Sinatra for instance. He was an old foggy from my parents generation. Yet today, there are several of his CD's in rotation in my CD changer along with others like Tony Bennett, Harry Connick, Jr., Sarah Vaughn, Cleo Laine, Diana Krall.

I've always liked Big Band/Swing music having heard a lot of it growing up. But, it wasn't until I got older that I really began to appreciate the music and how revolutionary it was in it's day much like Rock n Roll has been in ours. I was really happy when the Neo Swing trend started. I frequently listen to bands like Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Royal Crown Revue, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer and his Orchester (like whatever Brian's doing), and sort of fringe Neo Swing bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers (liked the candy that gave them their name too ) I could fill my 25 CD changer with the classic Swing and Neo Swing CD's I have.

Classical Music and Jazz I've always liked, again having been exposed to a lot of it growing up. But, I've listen to even more of both as I've gotten older.

Two forms of music that I've come to enjoy later in life are Country and Stage/Musicals music. Country not so much for the whole genre, but for the individual musican's talent, which IMHO, transcends the genre.
As to Stage/Musicals, I can listen to Phantom of the Opera over and over. Same with Aida, Les Misserables, Buddy (Buddy Holly story), and many others. Seeing the performances live on Broadway, in West End theaters in London and elsewhere really add depth and context to the music.

Of course, as a guitar player, my favorites will always be Blues, Blues based Rock, and Rock in general.

 

[Eric]

How about you, does your preferences change much over time?

Hmm. So based off of a lot of the replies, even though people (me included) say their tastes have expanded rather than changed, I'd have to say the general consensus is 'yes.'

It might come down to 'change' indicating a shift in focus, rather than dismissal of what you liked in the past. If that is how we're defining it, then yes, my tastes have most definitely changed.

I've had phases of 90s alt-rock, classic rock, blues harp, 80s metal, prog rock, etc. That doesn't mean I now hate 90s alt-rock, but what I am interested in at any one time routinely changes, and that includes week-to-week changes as well as shifts over periods of years.

 

[tremoloman]

I have ADHD so my tastes are all over the place and I pretty much dig any type of music that takes talent to produce. Having said that, I find myself more going in "stages" with tastes if you will.

I grew up as a kid on AC/DC, Beatles, Hendrix, and Black Sabbath (age 4-10), then went through a heavy Zeppelin/Rush/Megadeth/Metallica/metal phase (11-20), then got into jazz/classical guitar, then blues, then back into shred/metal.

I now listen to a VERY wide variety of artists. The CDs in my car currently are:

Johnny Cash, Megadeth, Jimi Hendrix, Rush, Alison Krauss, John 5, The Cure, Public Enemy, Muddy Waters, Robin Trower, and Ned's Atomic Dustbin.

Yup... I'm crazy.

 

[MAXIFUNK]

As Blloozcat stated

My taste have for more types of music has expanded and now includes things as a teenager I never would have listen to say Like Brad Paisley or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But my taste in music has always been vast in high school because I could not get anyone to go with me I saw all by myself Bob Marley, Weather Report (with Jaco), Pat Travers, Charlie Daniels, Molly Hatchet, Stanley Clarke, & Duke Ellington. So, now I would say if I think it is good then I listen the problem is the vast majority of modern music SUCKS SO BAD ITS HARD TO LISTEN TO. What I listen to can change from one moment to the next considering my mood at that time like yesterday I was listening to Carlos Santana in the car Hip-Hop at work and Disturb, Rage, Korn & Alice in chains on my way home. I happen to be listening to Earth, wind & Fire right now.
All depends on my mood.

 

[Tig]

The difference is in how many more styles of music I've become open to as I've gotten older. When I was in my teens I wouldn't be caught dead listening to someone like Frank Sinatra for instance.

I'm in the same boat. In my teens and early 20's I was the guy who had to catch an up ad coming act early and expose it to my friends. We were too busy trying to be cool to listen to anything "old".

Now, I could care less what anyone thinks and listen to whatever pleases me. Music can create a mood or enhance it. While in the past I may have known someone was good, but didn't get my music spending dollar. Now, I get to go back and really enjoy what I missed.

My one and only regret is not catching each and every show that Stevie Ray Vaughan played when he was in town. He played here many times before he got big, and while I knew of him, I was too busy chasing tail at clubs and parties to stop and catch him. :drool: Talk about a mistake! Note: I said "chasing", not "catching" tail!

 

[guitarhack]

Like many of you have said, I have expanded my musical appreciation. I grew up listening to Top 40 radio when the Beatles hit, and then all the psychedelic and progressive music of the late 60s and early 70s, but also heard the country and bluegrass that my dad liked as well as the Big Band music that both parents listened to. As I've grown older I've learned to appreciate the incredible musicianship of the swing bands and their influence on many modern musicians. These days I listen to everything from Steve Vai to Gillian Welch, My Morning Jacket to Johnny Cash. Blues, Jazz, Country, Bluegrass, World, etc. Whatever strikes a chord.

 

[street music]

I must say that I have changed to being more of music lover from many genre. I can remember when I refused to listen to Bluegrass and now I really enjoy a good portion of it, Country use to be so sad and boring to me but I find myself being able to enjoy quite a good amount of it too. 60s, 70s, 80s rock is my favorite and I can enjoy good blues, and up to say Metallica,Pink Floyd and such is still in the CDs that I listen to on a regular basis. I have been to 2 STYX concerts in the last 4 months and enjoyed them both greatly.
So I have opened my ears to music more than when I was younger.

 

[kidsmoke]

Like most of you here, I would say there is simply "more room at the table" now than there was in the past. I can share some music from almost ANY genre that truly moves me. Once that happens, it stays. It may go dormant for a while, but it's always in the archives, and that day comes where it is just what the doctor ordered.

Sure different artists or genre's get the lions share of my attention, and it ebbs and flows, but the "palate" is ever expanding.

I view it like the lights on an EQ panel. Once upon a time there were only 3 - 4 bars, and any one would be higher than the others. Now, my "panel" has 20 or 30 bars. And different bars are peaking all the time. They are all there, and all lit, all the time however.

case in point, check out this thread

 

[markb]

Well, if peoples' tastes don't change over time, The Wiggles are going to be huge in the future

 

[deeaa]

Sure, tastes vary a LOT. I'm about forty, and it's changed much indeed.

I first started listening to music when I was around five or so.
It was pretty much only classical music, Dvorak my favorite, but pretty much all the orchestra/symphony stuff just fine. Bach I also liked a lot, especially with organs. I listened to some of the lighter stuff my parents had, like Ella Fizgerald and some jazz, but I always liked the classicals more.

When I was like 13 or so I already also listened to some pop music, mostly ABBA and such, even Michael Jackson...and then found heavy, and for maybe five years or so it was Judas, Maiden, later Metallica and Megadeth etc. pretty much only.

Then around 18 I was back to non-rock; Grateful Dead, Dire Straits, but also some Led Zeppelin and such...a lot of 70's stuff like some Fleetwood etc. And even blues. A brief break with mostly stuff like Buddy Holly and some Swing quartets etc.

In my twenties it was mostly grunge and such...and then I didn't much listen to music for a good while...but in the most recent years I've been back into more rock and harder rock too; I'm pretty happily listening to Pantera and ACDC etc. off my iPods a lot.

But, it seems the best music, for me, is always the newest bands.

I do think currently the best music is in contemporary bands, Foo Fighters, Danko Jones, Biffy Clyro, Audrey Horne, Airbourne, Billy Talent etc. and I know a lot of local and/or no-name bands that are simply much much better than anything on the radio, period.

But I still enjoy some classical now and then.

The only music I don't listen to is ******y i.e. jazz and guitar heroes, which is not even music to me, and progressive stuff like Rush etc...and blues, except real blues like Howlin' Wolf et al...although I could see myself playing some blues...and of course country which seems it's something only Americans can understand