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Yeah. Well. Does anyone lift to classical music? If so, what?

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Well, that's close.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I recently tried, but have reverted to thrashy guitar until I can improve listening volume.

i found a large collection of adagio, agitato and molto adagio/agitato and con fuoco pieces. I thought timesignature and temperament would be the best indicator of suitable music. But, I found volume in my headphones wasn't adequate, and that I couldn't get involved. I stopped after several sessions.

Whatever my son is practicing upstairs on the piano or violin

But if it were convenient, perhaps Philip Glass or Steve Reich

it's about as close as I get to classical music, I love me some disco. I wish I knew more about classical music, I consider myself to have pretty good musical knowledge but classical is an area I've neglected.

Would your son be willing to bring his violin and come over sometime?

Those are both interesting suggestions.

I think my tastes are about a hundred years older than yours. I'm thinking Stravinski, Tchaikosky or Katchaturian. Something like that. Rimsky-Korsakoff. Not that I only like Russian composers, but they come to mind.

Trouble is, I like to have the music on speakers, not earphones, and if I don't lift alone the others tend to glance uncomfortably at the CD player, then finally ask "do you mind I we listened to something else?" I was thinking of taking a few new CDs back with me, so I thought I'd look for something high energy that I might lift to.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Classical and Flamenco, I like.

Also Orchestrated music, scores from movies, Star Trek is so motivating.

Having my son drop by Papua New Guinea some day to play is not as far-fetched as we might think. His mother just got back from a medical missions trip to Zambia, and we are planning a family overseas Habitat trip as soon as both younger ones hit the age limit. He will be going overseas with the Youth Group in their normal cycle, and he is never without an instrument. Once he's a bit older, if i tell him there's a doctor in PNG who'd love to hear a performance, who knows? I once turned a corner in Cuzco Peru and bumped into somebody I knew from NYC, stranger things have happened.

As for classical in general, almost everything I know I've learned since my two younger took up violin, and since that time I've come to two conclusions. First, classical is far better when heard live, and second, classical is far more involving and hence does not function well as background music.

Consider that modern music is at least as much about engineering as instrumentation. If the engineering is bad the recording and live performance are horrible. Most modern music sounds better on the radio or a nice stereo than it does live.

But classical, ah, what a strange thing. Last year my son went to a music camp and I heard my first ever full symphony orchestra perform a nearly complete symphony (they left out one movement for time's sake). It was utterly captivating, i was mesmerized from the first note to the last. It was, bar none, the most absorbing and wonderful performance I'd ever heard - and these were 14-18 year olds. That was when I really realized that classical music is far superior when heard live -- but it also commands your full attention the way modern music does not. No equipment we have can capture and reproduce that sound. I'm not sure I'd want to play that performance in the gym as background music -- knowing what it really is supposed to sound like.

You are absolutely right about the live performance. But I can't get to concerts as often as I'd like!

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I listen to classical or some heavy/death metal any time I want to concentrate on something. Studying, reading a long 1k + page technical manual with minimal pictures, lifting, or anything really that requires me to tune out the rest of the world for the duration.

Khachaturian? I'm only a recent fan, and only know his Toccata, which I've gotten to hear a lot. The sharp dressed young man playing it in the clip below is my not-so-little-anymore boy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf1EvY7vgJg

Quite nice, but ewwww, I always cringe when I see names of people on the internet. lol, just me, I've very guarded against the www... I don't even let my wife post unprotected pictures of our kids on her facebook thing.

I'm sure that takes a lot of practice to get on the piano like that. =p Is your son going into an art/music career or just doin it on the side?

Ken--Great job. Your son, that is. You too, paying for the lessons, the piano and all. But he played this really well, and it's a pretty challenging piece.

I could probably lift to that.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

It's awhile before that decision will need to be made. He can maintain a heavy regimen of practice through high school, it's really after that when the priority decisions come along.

But pro classical music is super tough. One of the kids in his general group of friends aspires to be a professional violinist, and to that end practices 5+ hours/day. But she finds herself in a field of lots of others, some with greater natural talent, and some who can practice 7+ hours/day. The competition is extremely fierce. And she's still only 16! So many elimination rounds still ahead to clear!

But then again, his violin instructor, who is an accomplished composer, says point blank he didn't start taking it seriously until 17-18, so this world is a funny old place I guess.

Paraphrasing Yoda, "Difficult to see, the future is."