so i've been trying to get into classical, i've been listening to it in the background while i shitpost lately, i've gotten to the point where i can recognize most of the famous pieces (by bach, mozart, chopin etc.), but it still isn't anything more than "background music" for me. the music i actually ~enjoy~ listening to is usually this very specific type of folk/baroque pop with lush strings and intricate lyrics, and i haven't really been able to expand my taste all that much. what composers would you recommend to help me branch out and really appreciate this genre? i'm starting to fear i'm doomed to be a shit taste prole bitch forever.
pic related, my scrobbler doesn't work most of the time but this is still mostly accurate, i only listen to 3 musicians, please send help
....i don't even regularly come to this board, i just was looking for help with this specific problem. i don't think the music i enjoy is actually "shit", but its not exactly "high culture" i guess, and i feel like i'm missing out on appreciating a really big area of human artistic achievement, idk.
p-pls stop bully >.
Adrian Bennett
you could download a book about classical, from there explore your favorite periods, etc.
Also there's nothing wrong with not knowing about 'high culture'. Don't get into something just because of how it's perceived. That being said, if you actually have an interest in classical music definitely explore
Bentley Butler
i mean i already roughly know the "periods", i just don't know how to find what i actually enjoy listening to. i feel like i've listened to a good deal already and just haven't gotten anywhere.
its not about how its perceived, its about the artistic merit and complexity of it. idk, i just worry i might be too dumb to "get it". its starting to feel like a pretty hopeless endevor, but i'm still trying.
Logan Anderson
Scarlatti Stabat Mater, Bach St Matthew Passion, Strauss' 4 last songs, Pergolesi Stabat Mater.
That should get you started. Gluck opera is also based
Nicholas Lewis
alright thanks, i'm listening to the first one now, still not really feeling it but maybe with time.
Justin Lopez
bump, just in case anyone has any other suggestions
Evan Adams
>Final Fantasy >Destiny's Child >Lana Del Rey >Lenny Kravitz >Iron and Wine >Beyonce Dear god, you filthy casual pleb
Tyler Gutierrez
>literally just ignoring the artists I actually listen to so you can meme about the fact that I listened to a beyonce song one time
ok
also everything owen has ever made has been excellent, including the final fantasy work. get out.
Matthew Jackson
nah dude not him but even your most listened to artists are trash
get some fucking taste, and stop trying to get into classical to show off
also video games are for children
Parker Sanchez
you were born a pleb OP trop trying
Bentley Hall
if you only listened to beyonce once why is she on the chart. why is your chart dominated by pleb artists. you're a fucking pleb.
Ethan Sullivan
sorry I don't enjoy your shitty alt rock or whatever the fuck is in vogue on here this week, I like folk music.
I'm trying to "get some taste", classical is taste, "electronic"/math rock/metal/whatever the fuck you're peddling is probably not.
>video games are for children
holy shit you are retarded, it's a stage name for a owen pallet, it has nothing to do with your trigger, sorry.
Jesus Christ.
and you sound 13 years old, which I suppose I should have expected. I listen to regular radio sometimes and not just Sup Forums-poseur-core 24/7, I apologize.
I probably should have waited until after the summer, but I doubt this board gets much better anymore anyways. Oh well.
Isaiah Wood
You already pointed out what you're doing wrong. Don't just listen to it as background music. Actively listen to the pieces. If you find something you really like, look more into that composer and figure out what you like about their music. You should look into some composers from the Romantic period and branch off from there.
The first half is chamber folk, the second half is classical music. Or, depending on how you define "classical" music, at least very heavily inspired by it. Jumping straight into the old stuff isn't always a great idea, this album (Especially the Moon-side) is an excellent introduction without dragging too much.
It's accessible enough to give everyone who likes folk a good impression. The second half in particular completely avoids any resemblance to folk or pop music, instead there's a certain focus on choral stuff. Just give it a try, you like folk music inspired by classical music, you'll like classical music written by folk artists.
Samuel Gray
its just that i honestly get bored just listening to instrumentals while doing nothing, the only music i can really "actively listen" to has been lyrical folk, because its basically poetry with complimentary pretty music in the background and it gives me something to think about. idk, maybe i'm just not able to appreciate music itself enough to get into classical, or maybe if i learned music theory or something i could think about it from that angle while listening.
what do you think about while actively listening? i'm curious
>being retarded
thank you, this seems right up my alley. really really enjoying the first 10 minutes now, even though it was a bit of a slow start, once the voice kicked in i was hooked.
i already enjoy choral stuff, i think its just the hours of straight instrumentals that i have trouble getting into.
Nicholas Sullivan
>hurr durr fucking pleb durr
Wow you faggots are really useful, thanks!
David Gutierrez
you are not me but yes, that wasn't particularly helpful, we are in mid-summer though so idk what i could have expected.
Owen Phillips
Find some history of western art music book and read it. Listen to pieces as you go along.
Easton Roberts
start chronologically then skip classical period
Cameron Brooks
Listen to Mozart Read Rosen Pleb af
Jonathan Hernandez
>implying Beethoven's middle period wasn't the apotheosis of musical form
Parker Lewis
i mean i already kind of tried that, the problem is that i had trouble "getting into" them, as mentioned in op and why skip the classical?
hadn't heard of rosen but i will look into that book, ty. i've already listened to plenty of mozart, but maybe that will help me "get it" more, idk
listened to the full album, shit was tight, ty again
Parker Cook
bamp
Elijah Ross
Start with the Classical Style. Rosen is also a decent pianist, so look into some of his recordings as well.
Samuel Wilson
i've never had someone else bamp my own thread for me before.....t-thanks?
alright will do, ty
Cameron Rodriguez
On what site did you compile that image?
Samuel Hernandez
Having same problem any recs? just joined last.fm recently, so this isn't exactly 100% accurate
Nolan Price
pls help
Matthew Evans
>elliott smith >ween idk man seems pretty patrician to me
Landon Russell
I'm talking about as far as classical goes I've gotten into entry-level minimalism (Glass, Reich, the list goes on...)
Luis Mitchell
Go to the symphony. It doesn't matter what piece is being played - just go. My state's orchestra has super cheap seating for all of their performances. If you want to "get into" classical music (I interpret this as wanting an understanding of the vocabulary, history, and special variations depending on conductor), then a live listen is going to serve you better than getting a list of names off of the internet.
Grayson Long
Try listening to The Planets by Gustav Holst. More contemporary music might help you go backwards and find better older compositions.
alright, i'm a pretty severe autist neet atm but yeah, going to see a symphony has been on my list for awhile now. i'll just suck it up and go by myself i guess, it probably won't be that weird
this just sounds like a star wars soundtrack or something to me right now, but i'll try to give it more of a listen, thanks
James Powell
Yeah it seems like you just don't know how to listen to music by itself. One short but valuable book that could help you is Aaron Copland's What to Listen for in Music.
Ayden Adams
i'm actually really enjoying this, especially the jupiter and venus movements, i feel like i'm actually getting somewhere with just the music, very glad i listened past the "star wars" mars part lel
anyways, thank you for that
yeah, probably. i'm downloading that book, ty
Xavier Butler
>i've been listening to it in the background while i shitpost lately >its not about how its perceived, its about the artistic merit and complexity of it Just listen to it as music mang. If you've got a good performer doing like a Chopin piece, there is still the same desire of a performer and composer to deliver an emotional performance as there is in pop music. I mean, the sort of people you enjoy like Joanna Newsom make relatively complex music so I don't think it's beyond you to "get" classical but I think you just gotta try and connect with the emotion of a piece when you're listening to it.
Eli Bennett
>starting someone off with a 3 hour long oratorio It's an utterly fantastic piece but why
If you want similar to the arrangements in Sufjan's and Newsom's works, listen to string quartets, quintets, and other chamber works. Brahms's chamber music is a good place to start. Clarinet Quintet, Piano Quartet 1, and work your way out from there. There's also Schubert's Octet, Mozart's Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, Ravel's Introduction and Allegro, Hindemith's Kammermusik for a blend of woodwinds and strings. IMO chamber music in general is less accessible than large orchestral works because of the lack of bombast so if you find you're not feeling it, don't sweat it. Just come back later.
Jacob Morris
Start with Xenakis and Ferneyhough.
Cameron Anderson
You need to not think of it as background music. Watch this performance of Mars by Holst without being distracted.
>i need my music to have lyrics or i just cant pay attention to it
you don't like music. you like words. you are a pleb and will always be a pleb.
Cooper Campbell
alright, this is a lot of recs to work through but i'm going to try. thank you for all of this, this was basically what i was looking for with the thread.
really enjoying the Reich piece so far, it does indeed remind me of Illinois, its very unlike the other classical i was trying to get into, this is definitely a better starting point for me i think.
and yes, i will try listening to a few of those pieces in bed later, ty
i enjoy any kind of vocals, not just "words", it can be in a language i don't understand or just humming or something, idk.
i do also like words, they give me something to grab hold to and follow along with the music, at best they might even do what good poetry does and be art all by themselves, but i suppose you're right, thats not strictly "music".
i may indeed be destined to be a pleb forever, it is possible. i don't have an education in music theory or anything, i don't have anything to go off of besides what feels good or hooks me. idk, i just wanted to expand what 'that' could be a little, and some of the suggestions have helped, so i'm happy.
Aiden Richardson
I can provide some string quartet links that recently got me into classical if you're still looking for more suggestions
Kevin Russell
Thanks for starting this thread, OP. I've been wanting to get into classical as well and lyrics help me focus on music, too. I've gotten some good advice here.
Logan Ramirez
>whatever the fuck is in vogue on here this week The only thing in vogue on Sup Forums is hate. Get out while you still can.
Eli White
Maybe try and memorize what each instrument sounds like, if you haven't done so already. So instead of "wow where my vocals @ this is boring" you're thinking "wow this flute part is high" or "gorgeous cello melody here" or "holy shit i didnt think people could play piano this fast" or even perhaps "cool! these different parts move in really interesting ways in conjunction with each other and give the piece a complexity i didnt even realize was possible"
Gabriel Sanders
ya got me
Joshua Rogers
Trained composer here. Uematsu is based af. He knows his shit and writes excellently
There's some great music in video games. Much better than 90% of what you see when you open the Sup Forums catalog
If you need vocals then listen to Miserere, Mei Deus which I posted earlier, it is possibly the most beautiful vocal work ever written. The Pope decreed that the Miserere could only be performed once a year, and strictly within the walls of the Sistine Chapel. As an even deeper historical note, castrati were necessary for the performance. It was literally necessary to have sacrificed your balls to be able to perform such beautiful music.
liszten to liszt m8 also, one tip: listen to a piece more than one time, the first time it may seem like complete boring shit but the second one may sound like a complete masterpiece.
Elijah Kelly
sorry i got distracted, but if you're still around then certainly, i could use more suggestions
anytime bb .<
lol ok i will add him to my liszt, thank you
Dominic Garcia
>idk what i'm really supposed to be "thinking" about though Ah this is where some research on musical forms come in. Look up sonata form, binary form, ternary form, rondo form, theme and variations, minuet & trio, and fugue on Wiki and if any of those are confusing there's a boatload of Youtube explanations for you. There's also plenty of color-coded analysis videos of popular symphonies on Youtube to help you pick out form.
Besides that, some Bach inventions, sinfonias, and fugues would help you pick apart different layers of music. Any Bach keyboard work will do really so choose the most viewed ones on Youtube or whatever.
Jack Morgan
Miserere is a setting of Psalm 51 to music. This is part of appreciating older music, it requires some research. You really should know the deference between a concerto and a symphony, you need to know what a harpsichord is when you listen to baroque composers. You need to know what baroque is. You need to know what the renaissance was; what the enlightenment was. At least for me an appreciation for western music comes from an appreciation of western civilization as a whole. This is the kind of thing puts us in touch with our heritage in the same way art or other 'high culture' does, it's the stuff that separates us from animals.
Think about our human ancestors 100,000 years ago beating a drum and dancing around a fire; that is what Rap/EDM is essential today, just an appeal to our animistic nature and innate brain wiring. The nightclub is no different from the experience of cro-magnon man, whereas the live orchestra does transcend is some way. Classical music is a conquering of our animalistic nature, it transcends dancing around a fire to a beating drum.
Watch this documentary, it's not strictly about music but you will benefit from it like I did (pic related is refereed to at 8:50). Do not condemn yourself to being a pleb, as you say.
Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness According to the multitude of Thy mercies do away mine offences. Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness: and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my faults: and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified in Thy saying, and clear when Thou art judged. Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me.
Andrew Sanders
Try Scarlatti's sonatas m8
Tyler Anderson
listen to Bach's sonatas and partitias for solo violin maybe try and think of the counterpoint as a kind of conversation or argument while listening
There is not a single folk musician on your image. It's all popular music.
This is not debatable.
Carter Jones
You're probably just shit posting, but what exactly do you mean? Any music that becomes popular can no longer be "folk"? Any music with production values? It's what most sources would classify those artists as, it's just a genre of music, there's no need to be a contrarian little bitch over every last thing m8
Xavier Parker
Seems like you have no idea how to recognize a melody without a vocalist. In many pieces, it's the most obvious "element" of the music.
Here, listen to this. The piece is a bunch of variations on an easily discernible melody. You can hear changes in the rhythm and harmonies affecting the "feel" of the melody. It's for a qintet, so the instruments should be easy to differentiate.
Again, this is not debatable, just a matter of ignorance.
Jace Collins
not him, but folk music doesn't mean traditional music any more. folk is now a genre of popular music.
Robert Roberts
Classical music isn't supposed to be background music. You're supposed to sit and listen intently with all of your focus on it. That is the way to enjoy it. Really that's the way any good music should be enjoyed.
Cameron Lopez
sounds like debussy and satie to me, sounds TOO MUCH like debusys and satie to me
op here, sorry i just woke up, i'm gonna try to go back and respond to everything i missed
alright, those are good suggestions, i will work on them.
man i really wish i took piano lessons or something as a kid, this would be a lot easier >.<
alright i will watch that docu, thanks. i'm really not very educated on any form of "high culture", i could recognize and name most famous works of art but i couldn't tell you what they "mean" i suppose, i have a lot of work to do to "unpleb" myself in a lot of different fields.
added to the list, ty.
i can kind of hear how the counterpoint could be a conversation, i just don't really get what they're "saying", besides that it seems kind of passionate and sad, idk. it is very pretty though
i know how to recognize a melody, idk, it just doesn't really "stick in my head' without lyrics i guess. i guess i probably value "catchiness" more than i'd like to admit, i need to work on getting past that. the only thing that comes to my mind when i think of catchy instrumental-only pieces is something like this youtube.com/watch?v=_Ierk_i6Sd4, which is just a really simple piece, which i've been able to 'get into' and play on repeat a lot. idk, maybe i really do have some brain problem preventing me from understanding really big, complex classical pieces, or maybe i'll be able to work up to it, we'll see i guess.
i should really just take a break from listening to "catchy" shit at all and try to just focus on more challenging stuff i think, i'm starting to feel pretty dumb just admitting all of this.
Aiden Bell
>Medieval Perotin Leonin Hildegard von Bingen Minnesanger
I wasn't asking for a fucking uncontexted list of famous composers, that's very easily googleable, I asked a specific question, maybe try reading the actual thread instead of ctrl v-ing and feeling smug.
Carter Sullivan
start listening to Mozart. it's easy to love and it's great. then listen to Bach then Beethoven then read history shit and choose
William Cook
>it just doesn't really "stick in my head' without lyrics i guess. i guess i probably value "catchiness" more than i'd like to admit, i need to work on getting past that.
You probably just have shit auditory memory.
Remember, 200-300 years ago, there wasn't music everywhere. There were no recordings for you to play over and over again, so when you heard a piece of music you knew you could only hear it maybe a couple more times in your life and possibly this could be the only time. When you went to a concert, you fucking paid attention to the goddamn music and so audiences could handle listening to and remembering big complex pieces.
Now pop music ruined everything and dummies like you can only keep in mind moronic repetetive jingles.
Aiden Wood
Listen to anything by them? Are you retarded?
Julian Gutierrez
Only if you weren't rich. Ole' Freddy the Great had an orchestra on call for whenever he felt like playing his flute. Also, how do you think music was funded back then? Rich people had composers stay at their residences, Bach churned out new pieces every week for his job for fucks sake. There was plenty of music to go around, even what we would refer to as "classical music". In terms of folk musicians, they weren't exactly rare, especially if you lived anywhere remotely relevant.
Jeremiah Wood
No, but you very well might be. Giving a list of the 30+ most famous composers and then saying "NEVER ASK THIS AGAIN" is not actually helpful, someone is asking "how do I understand and enjoy classical" and you just basically answered "just shut up and listen to the entire classical canon and don't ask questions ". It's not explicitly "wrong", it's just being a self-satisfied unhelpful ass. Idk, I'm pretty tired of getting into arguments and I don't even feel like I made my point well, I guess I'll just save the rest of the actually helpful answers and move on.
