How to appreciate music better?

[(((I am NOT a jew)))]

Don't over-intellectualise music, it is a sensory experience. Just focus on the sounds being made and let it wash over you. Music discussions with other people are most fun when you're just recommending good music to each other. Talking about albums you both appreciate is a great way to bond. You like Bat out of Hell because it fucking rocks, it doesn't matter whether it includes key changes or what the dynamics are, you like the melodies and the production and the lyrics and you can pretty much leave it at that.

The more you listen to music the better your understanding of it will become. You cannot describe how a song makes you feel after one listen, only after many listens, and even then you probably won't be able to in any detail. Read any "great" music critic and realise that they basically all suck at describing the 'feeling' of a song, they either dwell on the musicological bullshit or they just speak in meaningless non-sequiturs (robert christgau). It is also much easier to describe why you dislike something than why you like something. Everyone remembers the brutally critical reviews of shitty albums but the positive ones might as well read "sounds good, listen for yourself."

That's pretty damn sincere and honest. Thank you.
I do wish sometimes I was able to appreciate prog more. I like old prog, but can't for the life of me tell you what scale they're using or what they're deconstructing with their music. I just like Yes.
Maybe I'm just going about it all wrong. Maybe what people want to hear/read is just raw, unfiltered celebration of music with no pretension behind it. Again I'm not trying to do it for a living or become another Fantano, but I do want to just talk earnestly about albums I care about. I think the only thing I need to work on is listening to lyrics better. I'll be honest though, there's just so many albums I don't understand the appeal of so maybe that's why I partially wanted to become an INTELLECTUAL™ just so I can see the appeal of some shit.


See, this is why I love this place. We seem like a bunch of bullies from a cursory glance but I've actually had some of the human, earnest advice and talks on here in the very small time I've been on here. Not trying to sound gay but I do appreciate the actual positive support from you guys.

 

[Mr. Confederate Man]

I'm a guy who likes music like most people. I have several albums and various genres I like. But I have a small problem.
I have no idea what makes music good. I can't critique music for shit. I have no clue of music theory, only have a faint idea of what good music production is and feel lost in the conversation whenever I see guitarists or music buffs talk about what makes a track or album work. I can talk about my love for music all day, but it feels very surface level... probably because I haven't had much experience at all with making it.
I can only really say that I like the lyrics or how an album as a whole fits a certain theme/motif. I have no idea of ability or why I like half of the shit I do.
Is there anything anyone here could recommend or a place to start in order to fully learn to give reasoning to my like/dislike of music. I want to review albums at some point, not for money but just to share a slightly less pretentious view than a lot of popular music critics.
So is there any albums, books, documentaries, youtube channels, critics, music theory lessons or anything else anyone can recommend as a gateway into being able to listen to music better?

Who gives a fuck? If is sounds nice, then it sounds nice. No need to be a fag about it

 

[Truman the Jewman]

Honestly, if you were a friend of mine and you went on some Fantano-esque pretense of explanatory aural terms just to talk about some music you like with me, we probably wouldn't be friends much longer.

You don't need a doctorate in music theory to be able to expound upon your like/love of certain genres. Simply knowing about and wanting to spread your enjoyment of a great deal of music would speak volumes more to me than a lecture about, say, the deep-seated meaning of Lennon's post-Beatles Plastic Ono Band output.

But also yeah drugs are super nice for really engaging with music. Not all drugs should make one paranoid and unable to gel. A "downer," something that interacts with the GABA receptors, usually mellows me out and gets me deep into the groove, especially with some maryjane on the side.

 

[The Cringe Connoisseur]

There's really just 2 simple rules to enjoying and comprehending music properly.

1- The people who try to gatekeep music are all retarded faggots with no lives and no bitches. Their opinions are as worthless as they are and so recycled they might as well be tropes.

2- Go into any new music with no pre conceived notions, expectations or biases. An open mind is open to new ideas and experiences. Don't be a cringey faggot who thinks hating everything makes you cool. It makes you a loser.

 

[⚞⛇⚟]

While I don't have the exact same problems as OP (mainly because while my understanding of music is limited, it is good enough for me), I would like to understand the history behind the music that I like. Understanding the backstory behind a track often helps me appreciate the track more, and learning more about the culture surrounding the song helps me find new stuff. Plus, the stories are usually very interesting. That being said, besides aimlessly scrolling through Wikipedia, I don't really know how to approach learning about the history of music that I like. Do any of you have any advice/recommendations for what I should do?

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

Use headphones. Preferably anything but earbuds.