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Teenagers and Musical Tastes

GK Growl

GK Growl

Inactive
Dec 31, 2011
1,283
1,126
#1
Before you get the idea that this is an old fart bashing the music of the "yewts" (I'm sorry....yoooouuuths) thread, it is not. I'm 41 (old fart) and my son is soon to be 15. He's a bassist (starting on upright several years ago, now plays electric bass only in school Jazz band). He also plays a little guitar and keyboard but bass is his thing.

Now to the meat of the thread. I've noticed that in his circle of friends, the ones that are musical and into rock music absolutely love the music that I grew up with!! I couldn't imagine being his age and digging anything my dad liked. Aren't we supposed to hate our parents music? I actually like more modern rock than he does. As I'm typing this, I can hear him playing along to Orion by Metallica. Earlier it was Sweet Child O' Mine and Give it Away. Before that it was Skynrd!!

Here's a list of what he's playing this week:

Orion
Sweet Child O' Mine
Peace Sells
Wake Up Dead
Give it Away
YYZ
Simple Man
Mr. Brownstone


Is this because of guitar hero or what? It boggles my mind. And no, I don't have a problem with any music he might want to learn.
 
#2
GK Growl said:
I've noticed that in his circle of friends, the ones that are musical and into rock music absolutely love the music that I grew up with!
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I would like to comment on your quote above. I have been playing in a classic rock saloon cover band and I am amazed that a lot of the very young people, lets say under 25, are dancing and singing along with the lyrics of songs that may have been released 10 year to 20 years before they were even born. I don't know for sure but maybe thats why they now call this genre "Classic Rock". It would be interesting to ask your son's friends what they find appealing about the music their parents grew up with.
 
#4
Yeah and "classic rock radio" now consists of bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Guns N Roses, etc alongside The Who, Pink Floyd and Zep that I learned to play bass to when I was a teen/early 20's.
 
#5
Indeed... you nailed it. Guitar Hero and Rockband changed music and the radio. Many radio stations played nothing but songs in RB and GH after the games came out. Plus, iTunes and other music sites got on board and pushed the same king of songs. It was not a musical revival per say as many people like these songs because they are popular and everyone knows the lyrics now. Retro is in... look at all the late 80's/early 90's fashion everywhere. However, I'm still glad these songs are coming back!
 
#6
My teenagers, I'm thankful to say, have great taste in music. My oldest daughter had a phase where she liked trashy pop, now she's out of that. She does alternative stuff like Panic at the Disco and the Killers; her younger sister likes Led Zeppelin and the Beatles and anything Jack White does; my son is a James Brown fanatic.
 
#7
I'm 16, and your son and I have that in common.
I am pretty sure my love of your music comes from growing up around it, playing it on things, movies, etc.
I can also respect the musicianship that went into older music. The general trend in music is, of course, the growing technical aspects, which make up for more and more "actual playing".
Playing in my schools jazz band is a big part in that. I can see how hard it is to come up with good baselines like I see in so many songs we play.
But, that's me at least.

Edit: posted prematurely
 
#8
VinKreepo said:
Indeed... you nailed it. Guitar Hero and Rockband changed music and the radio. Many radio stations played nothing but songs in RB and GH after the games came out. Plus, iTunes and other music sites got on board and pushed the same king of songs. It was not a musical revival per say as many people like these songs because they are popular and everyone knows the lyrics now. Retro is in... look at all the late 80's/early 90's fashion everywhere. However, I'm still glad these songs are coming back!
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I find this to be ridiculously insulting. I've never met a person who said that guitar hero and rock band changed what music they liked. I'm 20 and have only ever listened to classic rock. Real classic rock, Zeppelin, The Who, The Guess Who, The Boss, not Nirvana. It has nothing to do with Itunes or video games....
 
#9
Insulting?? My son's musical tastes just started to come to fruition around the age of 11 or 12...which is when video games and their influence makes quite an impact. Also, classic rock has to include bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, GnR just for the fact that this music is 20 to 25 years old now.
 
#10
GK Growl said:
Insulting?? My son's musical tastes just started to come to fruition around the age of 11 or 12...which is when video games and their influence makes quite an impact. Also, classic rock has to include bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, GnR just for the fact that this music is 20 to 25 years old now.
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Yes insulting. Claiming that guitar hero and rock band are the reasons people my age listen to classic rock is insulting and very inaccurate. The guitar hero games I played (besides the specialty ones) had many more newer songs than classic rock. When I played with others unless I forced them to play the old stuff they never picked it. And just because the music is over 25 years old doesn't make it classic rock. The only band I would consider rock out of those is Guns and Roses. The others might be "classic" now, but not rock.
 
#12
I'm 21 and most of my favorite music is from the '60s. My dad introduced me to The Beatles at a young age. I always liked them, but it was in high school that they really became my musical idols. I play bass mostly because of McCartney's influence. I started getting into other artists from the '60s around the same time and during my senior year I had pretty much made a reputation as the school's resident hippie. Grew out my hair, wore a lot of tie-dye, etc. I'm still a bit like that.

I've always been astounded at how my peers can get into some of the music they do. I like indie rock and all that but no rap, dubstep, or screamo for me.
 
#13
Pokerdweebs, you are genre splitting. I'm sure that I could rattle off a list of artists that you would not deem as "rock" but would be considered by most as classic rock artists. Are the Beatles classic or classic rock? And yes, I believe that the majority of younger people that enjoy classic rock probably had there first exposure to it through their parents or video games.
 
#14
Pokerdweebz said:
I find this to be ridiculously insulting. I've never met a person who said that guitar hero and rock band changed what music they liked. I'm 20 and have only ever listened to classic rock. Real classic rock, Zeppelin, The Who, The Guess Who, The Boss, not Nirvana. It has nothing to do with Itunes or video games....
Click to expand...

Just because you grew up this way, does not mean everyone else did.

With radio not as popular as it once was, games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band ARE shaping what the younger generation listens to. Itunes and youtube are KING right now. It barely matters if you get on the radio any more. All it takes is hearing the song on Rock Band and looking it up on Itunes. See a crazy music video on youtube and find it online quickly. Radio is so crammed with commercials; it is sickening. Why listen through those commercials when you can go online and/or play a game with good music? Instant entertainment.

Good for the youth! Now to limit how much trashy/crap Pop music gets produced....
 
#15
Parents maybe, but not video games. Maybe a very small number of people, but I highly doubt it. Whether I'm genre splitting or not has nothing to do with my point. The people my age listen to classic rock because they were introduced to it by a friend, parent, or family member. Playing Love Me Two Times and Hotel California with a fake guitar did not turn kids to classic rock.
 
#16
Gearhead17 said:
Just because you grew up this way, does not mean everyone else did.

With radio not as popular as it once was, games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band ARE shaping what the younger generation listens to. Itunes and youtube are KING right now. It barely matters if you get on the radio any more. All it takes is hearing the song on Rock Band and looking it up on Itunes. See a crazy music video on youtube and find it online quickly. Radio is so crammed with commercials; it is sickening. Why listen through those commercials when you can go online and/or play a game with good music? Instant entertainment.

Good for the youth! Now to limit how much trashy/crap Pop music gets produced....
Click to expand...
Just because kids use Itunes and Youtube for everything don't mean they push classic rock. Like I said there might be a very very small number of kids who heard a classic song on rock band and looked it up, but not many. I also wouldn't consider guitar hero or rock band to be very shaping considering it has already burned out and has stopped being made. The people I met who have it played it for a few months and put it away until they were ridiculously bored or having a party.
 

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