Sometimes, I Don’t Even Like Music

By Stella Joseph-Jarecki (Enquiries: stellamusicwriter.wordpress.com)

Some Monday afternoon thoughts-

Sometimes, I don’t even like music. Those reading this will either instantly know what I mean, or will be really confused. What do you mean, sometimes you don’t even like music? You’ve done a degree in music, you work in the industry, and you maintain a music blog in your SPARE TIME! How could you possibly not like it, you liar!

Saying that sometimes I don’t even like music is hardly as controversial as bringing up politics at the dinner table or debating the meaning of life. But I think it’s a bit of an open secret- when you live, eat and breathe music, sometimes that means you really, really don’t want to go to a classical music gig. (Or any gig.)

I guess the more correct way to put it is, sometimes I don’t have the energy to immerse myself in music. That’s how I function normally. I listen to a piece of music and if it rustles my jimmies, aurally speaking, it really gets into my bones.

But if I am exhausted, which has been my usual state during this pandemic, I don’t want to listen to richly layered or challenging music. I don’t have the space in my brain to process a Bach cantata or a Verdi opera. As much as I love that kind of thing when I am in the mood!

For many musicians, the act of learning and performing music is one of their major life passions. But funnily enough, this exists alongside listening to music to simply unwind. I know that many classically trained musicians listen to other genres when they want to relax, because if they listen to classical music, they inevitably put their ‘I want to dissect and perform this piece’ thinking caps on. And because variety is the spice of life!

Anyway, long story short: Please don’t feel like you are any less of a motivated, insightful, considered musician if you enjoy listening to structurally-simple pop music to unwind. Or if you find yourself definitively not in the mood to listen to a piece of music incorporating guttural sounds and experimental non-linear landscapes. You’re only human.