Is musical preference a choice?

?

Like, can anyone like any kind of music? Is it just a matter of interpreting it the way it needs to be? Or are we predisposed to hating certain types of music and liking others?

It's influenced by your culture and the environment you grew up in.

People tend to change music taste quite often so it's not like it's hardwired into your brain.

its preference and association. a kid who befriends death metal heads is more likely to get into death metal and hate hip hop/rap etc. but in general death metal is pathetic.

But blacks must have hip-hop in their dna or something derpMonsieurX

Yeah. That gene is right next to the one that is responsible for that extra bone in their feet.

I feel like that's a culture thing. Everyone around them loves it, so they look for what they want to enjoy in it. Anyone who doesn't care for it isn't looking for what they like about it, they want what they like to pop out at them, but it won't because they aren't looking for it. You know what I mean?

its preference and association. a kid who befriends death metal heads is more likely to get into death metal and hate hip hop/rap etc. but in general death metal is pathetic.

lostfan132

Really? None of the metalheads I know hate rap, and how exactly is DM pathetic (looking at bands like Carcass, death, Morbid Angel, etc..)? I think you've been listening to crappy bands like Cannibal Corpse, and the more modern "BRUTAL" DM bands, but that's not proper Death Metal.

Actually- equal temperment music is ingrained in our western culture ears, from birth. No matter the genre- we all use the same 12 pitches, and other parts of the world don't. So when you hear music that is not western tradition, it will sound "weird" or out of "tune". Theres your fun fact of the day.

None of my friends or family members have any knowledge of the music I listen to and play. My musical tastes have been influenced entirely by what I've discovered on the internet.

Only when I was very young (prior to widespread internet use) did I listen to some of the same music as other people in my environment.

It's influenced by your culture and the environment you grew up in.

People tend to change music taste quite often so it's not like it's hardwired into your brain.

toast_burner

its preference and association. a kid who befriends death metal heads is more likely to get into death metal and hate hip hop/rap etc. but in general death metal is pathetic.

lostfan132

No I wouldnt the word "choice" for it.

For the most part it's just what "clicks" for someone. And in the cases where someone changes tastes for reasons other than what impulsively appeals to them, it takes a bit of a procedure to actually develop a new preference.

You dont just go "ok now I'll start liking metal" and BAM you're banging your head. That would be a choice because to me a choice implies a cognitive awareness and manipulation of the preference which isnt possible imo.

My music choices has changed throughout my life. There are genres that I have hated and now love and vice versa. I don't think its predisposed. NEWMAHAY

That's not the only opposite of a choice. It is also the impulse.

EDIT: Unless your comment about it being predisposed includes impulse to an extend (since we can trace impulses to our psyche which more or less could be presented as something that has those predispositions). In that case, imo it is prediposed to the extend our psyche remains the same. Which is definitely not 100%. I think our experiences while growing older influence our psyche and the impulses we have that drive our music preferences.

?

Like, can anyone like any kind of music? Is it just a matter of interpreting it the way it needs to be? Or are we predisposed to hating certain types of music and liking others?

RandomWinner

Probably not. I'm naturally drawn to classic rock and alternative rock plus a bit of psytrance.

i think it's all about preference and sometimes where you grew up in

But blacks must have hip-hop in their dna or something derpMonsieurX

It's definitely possible to overcome biases, or to uphold biases, and since musical preference can change, I would say it is definitely a choice. A lot of the time, though, biases are formed without your knowledge due to non-musical factors like peer pressure or upbringing.

No, it's not.

Musical taste is a consequence of personality.

You won't find a violinist or a pianist constantly whining about the state of society, just like you're very unlikely to find a rapper that doesn't bash it in almost every song he makes, and just like you won't find an intelligent person among the "superstars" who make one song and are never heard of ever again.

All I know is that after a few years of listening to almost nothing, I one day realized that I liked classical music. And then some time after that, metal. And then even further down the track, basically the heaviest stuff you can think of. For me, it was basically a case of being drawn to the music I listen to, all for one simple reason.....I enjoy it. It didn't really make a conscious decision that this was the music I wanted to listen to.....it's like my zombie mode just activated after hearing it :P