Musically, ...

To each his own; different strokes for different folks; one man's poison is another man's meat, all of these signify taste. While there are some who blindly cling onto what they believe is the best, I find it is always good to take a walk and see life from the other side of the fence, to walk in another's shoes.

As per the title, I will divulge in my personal musical preferences and other things musical, from Avenged Sevenfold to Bach, from Metallica to Beethoveen, from Louis Armstrong to Switchfoot. You can probably already tell my taste in music is... wide. Personally, the music I listen to is influenced by many factors, friends for example. The more modern music was introduced to me by my friends. However, I can scarcely imagine anyone under the age of 26 who likes Satchmo' or Arty Shaw. In that respect, I am something of an anomaly. Classical music is timeless, yes, but Jazz is somewhat an aquired taste. At first, I myself did not like it, perhaps because of its over rambunctiousness. Soon, though, I came to see it as lively, and energetic without all the rage of rock music.

Maybe, just maybe you did not notice any pop music or R&B. While I do not find them offensive or inappropriate, the styles just don't possess any sort of hold on me. The obvious beats are good for dancers, whom rely on the beat of the music for timing. Pop music, on the other hand, has improved. I don't object to the music itself, but it's the performers whom I dislike. Too much time and money has been wasted on reporting on every single qwerk of theirs, from winks to eyelash flirts to who is dating whom, and so on and so forth. It's appalling how the young generation (that's mine) fawn over the singers of today.

Classical music is, without a doubt, the most beautiful of the styles of music. Rock will cause your head to bob up and down, and Metal causes blood to rush through your veins as if you hooked your heart to a 747 engine. Jazz will lift you out of a deep dark hole of depression and somber you up. However, only Classical can show you a piece of your soul, no matter who the composer is. Somehow, if you stop, listen, and look within, you come into contact with a part of you that perhaps you didn't know existed. Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D minor for Organ summons the sinister, which is not entirely evil, however; instead of being wholly evil, it is a complex characteristic, with darker motives. Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik brings forth the gentleman, the formal socialite. He creeps me out. Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" in his Oratorio "Messiah" evokes the image of salvation and light, themes that I personally love. Beethoveen's 9th Symphony "Choral", more commonly known as "Ode to Joy", is about how all men are brothers. I can't name the feeling that is brought out by this. The music is both majestic and humble, both magnificient and yet simple enough for the uninitiated to appereciate. The original version in German is not coarse as the language is; it is forceful without being overbearing; harmonious and accented.  It is one of my favourite pieces.

Whether or not you agree with me, let us agree on this: music is inseperable from the world from which it is wrought. With the world as it is, is it any surprise that popular music is about almost nothing but sex, drugs, and the overemphasis on having romantic relationships? It is a world that must be changed by us, the youth of today, the kings of tomorrow.

The pen is mightier than the sword, and it is the pen I wield. . .

-Gabe