What made you what you are musically?
I was thinking about some of the stuff in the 80s thread and decided to have a think about the qualities or attributes of music in general that catch my ear. It occurred to be that even before starting to play (I took up brass age 12 and guitar at 18 ), I can recall what the attributes of the music I was drawn to were.
I don't mean genre, like rock or funk or any kind of pigeonhole. I mean the actual facets of the tunes that captured my ear. Here they are.
1: I've always preferred instrumental music. It's far more atmospheric to my ear and can make my imagination soar.
2: Intricacy has always been a draw. Not like Dream Theater. Like the phrasing and tempo of Ride of the Valkyrie, or the way Fingals Cave rolls like the sea, Hall of the Mountain King actually takes you into a cave. Also speed in playing has always exhilirated me.
3: Although I like Improv, I much prefer structured melody and thoughtful (not tasteful. That's different) phrasing.
4: I was brought up in an environment where military marches were in my ear a lot, and classical pieces as my Father was in a championship section brass band and my mother played piano, church organ, flute and a little guitar. I think this is why I don't register blues progressions.
5: I think I was drawn to rock music for the reasons above, but my tastes are a lot different to my peers. I love Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Van Halen, some Pink Floyd, but can't abide Led Zep or the Stones.
So pretty much all my life my ear has been drawn to intricacy in some form.
Can anyone else work out what the attributes and/or facets of music float their boat, without being genre specific or dismissing other facets because they don't hit hit your ear right?