I’ve talked about how to be proactive in the search for the perfect
beats in the past, but today’s lesson is in being reactive in the
journey of musical discovery and not being afraid to ask for some
guidance along the way.
Let me preface this post with how I got the idea for writing this
article. My uncle visited the great state of Arizona this past week and I
always knew he had tons of music, but what I didn’t realize was that he
was a wealth of knowledge. This isn’t just another, “listen to your
elders” story but instead its much more. This idea of looking upwards
towards our elders gave the idea of looking downwards and sideways. So
I’m going how to do each direction efficiently.
First, let’s look up. Our parents had some good music. Everything
from classic rock to new wave, their music tastes are what is forming
music still to this day. The infamous genre of “snappy,” as my mom calls
it from the 80s is basically the hip hop that most of find on the radio
today. So find the roots of where your favorite genre came from and I
bet your parents listened to it also.
Now that our necks are sore from looking up, let’s look left and
right to our peers. This one seems kind of obvious. Asking what
someone’s favorite genre is the basis of small talk. I challenge you to
branch out beyond that. Ask your close friends what they are listening
to and I bet you’ll find something you didn’t know before. Look around
on facebook for any statuses about digging songs or song lyrics that
someone can’t get out of their head. This simple practice will really
broaden what music you listen to.
Now, it’s time for the hardest and least practical direction, down.
Looking at the kids under our demographic (i’m assuming everyone is
18-24 here) can only do so much. They usually reflect popular trends and
aren’t developed enough to look outwards from the mainsteam, but
sometimes, they have little gems that will give you a throwback to
yesteryear. Again, you’re not going to get much from here, but there’s
still something there.
We just exercised our neck muscles and found some great music doing
it. So good luck out there on your great music journey. Hopefully my
realization wasn’t wasted out in the internet.
