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I was curious about other people’s music listening habits, so I ran a research study.
I consider music an essential part of my life. I grew up listening to my parents’ chosen tunes which happened to be a mixture of classic rock, folk, jazz, and your occasional dash of country. I remember my dad playing one of his coveted vinyl records on our old “state-of-the art” stereo system, subtly tapping and nodding his head to the beat. Sometimes I’d even grab a pencil to help rewind cassette tapes. Those tapes soon became CDs, CDs became MP3 files, and MP3 files became online music streaming services.
I took what seemed like countless piano lessons. My sister and I would spend our Saturday mornings learning anything from basic music theory to chord progressions and improvisation techniques. There’s a common saying that most instruments are fairly easy to learn but difficult to master. This is somewhat true for the piano in my case. Beginner and intermediate lesson books included tips and tricks, whereas actual sheet music books had nothing besides time signatures, traditional tempo notations, and dynamics. It seemed like an entirely different language with no clear accomplishment of fluency. Most of it was my fault, of course. While my sister was much more disciplined and made sure to practice throughout the week, I’d scramble to quickly run through exercises and songs about 30 minutes before our lessons. Things changed eventually, and I got better at it — not necessarily better at piano, but at least better at remembering to practice.
When I was in middle school, I had this old mp3 player. It looked more like a flash drive, so it’s safe to say I rarely downloaded music during that time. A lot of the music I listened to were top hits I heard on the radio or songs recommended by friends. Online radio and music streaming services like Pandora and Spotify rose in popularity in high school, which encouraged me to start exploring different genres of music. It was comforting to play music in the background while working on homework assignments or hanging out with friends. However, when I got to college, it was like I always had to have music playing. I’d put in earbuds and listen to a few…
