WHY do YOU LOVE MUSIC ? & What has music given you ?

[Hawk]

Why do YOU LOVE MUSIC ?

I probably have a million (or more) reasons. Here are a few and I'll probably add more.

But I'm really interested in YOU . And your reasons and passions relative to making music a part of YOUR life ? And equally important, why are you thankful for music in YOUR life ?

My parents were both musicians as well as their parents and most of their siblings, so music was a part of my my life from day ONE !

I thought (when I was a kid) that everyone grew up with musicians in the family. Even some of my neighborhood friends grew up to become popular musicians around town. Music was just a way of life . THANK GOD !

I've met thousands of people because of music and I cherish so many of them who have become friends and I respect many who have become acquaintances!

I met my wife via the local music circle in the early 1970s. THANK GOD !

I make a living through music and so does my son. Life doesn't get any better than when you have a passion for something and make a living at it at the same time.

I LOVE many genres as well. Music is such an adventure if you open you mind and absorb the passion others have for their genres.

I ran into a youg kid at Ford Music Store yesterday. It was he who inspired me to start this thread. He is a guitar player and he was buying a used amp. He played it for a while. We talked. He was into writing his own music and recording it. God, I just LOVE the passion of young musicians and I love to feed off of it. I wished him luck. I hope his passion drives him for the rest of his life into the joyful endeavor of the musical journey !

I'll stop, I could go on forever about everything music gave to me.

Now, I'd like to hear from YOU !

[nighthawk]

no description i could ever give could answer this question. it would be nothing more than a bunch of rambling that never got to the point.

i just do!!!

[Dark Soul]

This is, without question, the single best thread I have ever seen on this website. Simple, yet fantastically profound. And it didn't have a thing to do with fucking politics. Bravo, sir.

Almost every single member of my family is proficient with a musical instrument, so I guess I was going to end up loving music no matter what. Many people love music because they like to dance to it. That never mattered to me. Some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard isn't anything you can really dance to. Some people love playing music because it makes them seem cool. Well, that doesn't mean a damn thing to me. I've been ridiculed and made fun of my entire life by most of the people I've encountered and I gave up giving a shit what other people think of me a long time ago. Some listen to certain music because it's what's hot at the moment or because it's what their friends listen to. I think this is the worst reason in the world to listen to music. I couldn't possibly care less what's on the radio or what other people like.

I love music because it makes me feel more alive than anything else, and because it helps me to forget the pain of life for a while. Because it makes me feel beautiful inside in a way nothing else can. A master musician creating music is like a sorcerer casting a spell who can draw you into his world and make you feel what they feel and thereby experience something that cannot be expressed any other way.

Music is different than any other medium because it is formless. You cannot touch it, but it can touch you, and in doing so, change you forever.

[Banned]

How could you not love it?

[tonefight]

Very good topic, however I don't know that I can really answer it but I'll explain a quik history.

I was a teenager searching for "me" I did a few high school sports and it wasn't "me". I loved the radio ( back when it was good ) I got a guitar and I feel in love for the first time. I went to school and came home and played for hours, ate supper did a few chores to please the folks and played for hours again. It was a passion it was what I though about when I should have been paying attention in class. I passed up several good jobs in the past because I wouldn't have been able to play. I almost didn't take the job I have now because it limits me.
But why ? I can't explain that, it's just the way it is. Strangely though I never really looked to make it big I just wanted to play. Now that I'm older and have one of those damn jobs and family and so on its harder to dedicate myself to it but I still get it in there a bit.
For a career I was lucky that I took Electrical Tech, I took that so I could learn to fix my equipment ( still can't fix a tube amp, LOL ) but it lead me to a good career that supports my hobby. And I'm completely happy with music as a hobby.

[joltinjeff]

Likr Nighthawk, I could try to come up with some philosophically response that would sound like the ramblings of Chaucer...who by the way was nuts...

I began singing when I was 8 or 9 cant remember, but it was during a Christmas program at church and it was duet with some other kid and we sang Silent Night.

Music to me has been something that I have loved since then. Ive listened to different genres and liked some and didnt like some ...to each his/her own.

Those of us who have ever been associated with music whether you are a sound guy, do recordings, etc. we do it because we enjoy it. We love the music, we love the thrill we get by playing or singing. We love having ppl stand in front of us and dance and cheer. We like the noteriety it brings. Some of us are not the best and some of us are truly very talented.

Music makes everyone happy in some form or another. Plain and simple. Some like to go out and drink and listen to music...some ppl like to go and criticize the people who are performing .... jealousy is a bitch. Then there are those who find something soothing about listening to everything from Bach to ZZ Top and everything in between.

I think we all love music whether we are on stage or driving in our cars or that housewife doing housework and has the radio or stero on listening to as she works.

I love music because it allows me to escape this bullshit life we all suffer through. It allows me to let my mind (not my ears) listen to the lyrics, the music itself and feel or try to feel what the song is trying to say. Every song means something totally different to someone else.

There is nothing better than music, welll except sex but thats a totally different subject.

Just my thoughts.

[Don Hughes]

I'm not going to go all philosophical on everyone, I'm just going to give two reasons.

1. It is the best drug in the world.

2. It is the only thing in life that has never, ever, let me down.

[joltinjeff]

I'm not going to go all philosophical on everyone, I'm just going to give two reasons.

1. It is the best drug in the world.

2. It is the only thing in life that has never, ever, let me down.

I think that says it all right there good one!!

[Sapo]

chicks.

[Hawk]

Endorphins seem to play a part for some of these posts. I know when I'm playing, I don't have a problem in the world.

Endorphins ("endogenous morphine") are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters.[1] They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise,[2] excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food and orgasm,[3][4] and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being.

What a high !

[tonefight]

2. It is the only thing in life that has never, ever, let me down.

Don't know if I'd say that, you never had a bad gig ? a band member that completely ruined a good thing ? I'd say there are struggles but they are worth it.
I however could see in general it never let you down if thats what you meant.

[mjb]

i don't even know how to explain it. It rules my life. almost every single minute of the day in some shape or form. it just IS.

[felix'apprentice]

theres just something about being able to express yourself without saying a word. you can't describe it.

music for me - has saved my life more than a few times.

- kayla.

[f.sciarrillo]

It makes you feel good.

I grew up in a musical family, all my uncles; dad; brother and Grandfather play, or played, in a band. Being around it and hearing all the different styles gave me a really eclectic taste. For example; My grandfather would spend a lot of time listening to Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, and Berl Ives. My dad would listen to a lot of classic country and classic hits from the seventies, I grew up with the 80's and 90's being popular. I developed a love for it all. Of course there is still stuff that I can't listen to. But the majority of it I do. If it is music I will listen to it. From all this I often thought I should be a record producer lol...

[P MAC]

Free Therapy!

[HurricaneBob]

Free Therapy!

+1

[nakedtwister]

It makes me happy!!! I can remember when I was about 6 or 7, my grandparents took me to a wax museum in Va.. I was checking out all of the displays and my favorites were the military scenes. I had to take a restroom break and while in there I started thinking about the war hero's in the wax scenes. Next thing you know I started singing my all time favorite song " The Star Spangled Banner " at the top of my lungs. Hey I was alone in there right. As I exited the restroom there was a crowd of people standing there to receive me cheering and clapping. Needless to say I was horrified and red as a beet, but I saw how music could make people happy and bring them together. The shock is probably why it took me 30 years before I ever sang in front of a crowd again. To me, music is the one true universal language. There are no barriers. You don't have to speak a certain language to understand it. Music doesn't even have to have lyrics to understand it. Music can emote to you what ever you want to get out of it. The same song can be sad one time and happy at another, but I can always relate to music in a positive manner. I have also met so many great people through music. Lost a few too, but they will never be forgotten, because music reminds me of them. B

[RobTheDrummer]

I love music because it's everything! Music encompasses all feelings, emotions, passions, and the inner self being. It would be a boring world without music, and if you know someone that doesn't like music, they are a pretty dull person!

[Drum-Wolf]

Music is a way to express your feelings, channel your emotions, & also escape from reality. Music can take you to distant places, on an incredible journey if you let it. Music is also a tool that can be used to influence, or collectively bring together a group of people to a common purpose. I enjoy music for many different reasons. I mostly like emotional, heart-touching music that means something to me. That doesn't mean slow songs dominate what I like. We've come so far in society with music that the exploration of all of the different possibilities to explore is just about endless.

[ToonaRockGuy]

IMHO, Music is the most powerful force in the universe, bar none. I choose to think about it this way...

There are those who would argue that God is the most powerful force that has ever existed. But there are a TON of atheists, agnostics, and folks who believe in other forces, and dispute the existence of God, or a Supreme Being of any type.. Nobody disputes the existence of, or the power of music.

And playing taps me in to a little teeny piece of that pie.

Yeah, baby. Yeah.

[Jim Price]

Legendary Yes keyboard man Rick Wakeman is a strong proponent of the belief that music is a universal force, a connecting thread that unifies everyone in some psychic higher dimension.

It's a powerful force in my life. Many of the things that have happened in my own life have some sort of musical soundtrack to them when I reflect on them; songs that became associated with those events and happenings, or pieces of music that wrapped around rallying points in my life.

How many times have you been at a live music event, say, at an outdoor live show or festival event, and little kids instantaneously start dancing and running around in circles when the music starts? It always seems to be automatic, like the music has communicated a happy vibe to those youngsters to make them want to jump for joy or run around.

[RFBuck]

And to continue Jim's statements, in all my experiences nothing has been more thrilling than seeing a child jump around to the music I've played. From toddlers who don't know how to do anything but bounce up and down to the beat to older children who stare at you in wonder. And when you talk to them later and give them a pick or a drum stick and they run to their mothers in excitement...that's the coolest. It's how I got started.....
I went to a wedding reception when I was 8 or 9, and instead of a DJ they had a live band. I was fascinated by the guitar player...totally mesmerized. I thought "Yeah, that's what I want to do!" His name was Buck, too LOL. I met him again a year or so ago, and told him that story. He was a bit surprised to know that he was the driving force behind my desire to play.

Music is the coolest....it's how I escape. No matter how bad things go, you can turn to music and forget about things for awhile. Sometimes it helps me think better and solve problems.

[Atomic Jim]

Mucsic has done a lot for me. At one point, it allowed me to make a living doing the one thing I love the most, and to travel all over the country. It's brought me friends that I still have after 49 years of playing (I started when I was 2-1/2 years old LOL)

But it also brought to me something that no money could ever buy.

in 1976, my friend Kevin (McClain) and I decided to start a band spefically geard to go on the road playing lounges and hotels. Our big influence at that time was a band called "Fire & Rain."

Kevin and I decided that having a female vocalist would be a big assest for the band, so we started the search, but had little luck. Then one day Kevin called to say that he found an aid in the Altoona Mirror; it was a woman looking for a band to sing with. We set up an audition at her house. We she answered the door, my first thought was "Wow, what a knockout --probably can't sing a note." To our surprise, she had a fantastic voice.

I didn't realize that day that I was getting more than a vocalist -- turns out I found the love my life in that beautiful talented woman.
A year later, we were married, and we've been together 34 year, in all kinds of bands, and we've traveled all over the U.S. performing.

So, that's what music did for me. I definately married above my paygrade, but I'm not complaining.

[cucuplex96]

What I love about music the most I think, is how musicians can manipulate the melody in any given part of a song to represent an emotion or a mood. A lot of times it even helps to highlight something the lyrics might be saying. It paints a musical picture so to speak.

There is so much to say here but, I think I am gonna go with this.. It's that little bit of something that we all love about music. When your listening and you say, "I love this part" .. that's the stuff I'm talking about.
(For Example)
I like listening to to a song that's supposed to be sad.. and then listen to the creative way the musicians make it sound sad.
Or the same thing can be said for a happy song or an angry song ya know?!

sorry for the over explaining if that's what you get when you read this, I just wanted to come off clear

[shredder138]

FREE BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!