neverasitseems

I have no idea what a lastFM is, to be honest... Care to teach me what it is?

Paedantic Basterd

It's a website that logs everything you play on your computer and ipod and organizes it into lists and statistics.

Last.fm - Listen to free music with internet radio and the largest music catalogue online

It's another very good recommendation and networking tool. You can find out about a lot of people here just by browsing their pages.

neverasitseems

Hmm.. interesting. I'll check it out, thanks! And.. I have one more random question for you, just because I'm a person who likes asking questions (again, sorry). What got you interested it/ why do you enjoy music so much?

Paedantic Basterd

Haha, you ask very good questions, and I'd like you to tell me the same about yourself.

Music is the only activity I've been fascinated by for longer than six months at a time. I've always enjoyed it from an early age, but I don't remember really digging in until I was 14. It's an art medium that retains my full attention. The discovery you can make within it is endless. There is something for everyone to enjoy. Most of all, it engages all aspects of my personality, and most of my senses. There's nothing that interests or affects me quite like it.

neverasitseems

Haha, asking questions is a talent of mine, or so I'm told.. :P

I've grown up in a pretty musical family and I was shoved into piano lessons when I was about 5 and just loved being able to bang out a song whenever I got mad or upset about anything. I enjoy learning to play new instruments for that reason, as well, because they all convey a different mood in a different way. - Do you play any instruments?

As for listening to music, it's always just been there as my way of coping with things, so I've grown to have a huge respect and love for it, to the point that sometimes my friends think I'm crazy (like when I get really pumped about a history project on Scott Joplin, one of the first musicians I ever knew of, haha). I also agree with what you said about the discovery in music being endless. That, and the millions of ways music can express things and then on top of that, there's the millions of ways that it can be interpreted.

Paedantic Basterd

Not learning to play an instrument is probably my biggest regret in life. I've been learning a bit of theory and piano lately though, so there may still be hope for me.

neverasitseems

Why is that your biggest regret? Also, are you enjoying theory and piano so far?

Paedantic Basterd

I've never understood how anybody can be so moved by a medium of art, but have no desire to create it themselves. I would really love to partake actively in music as well as passively.

It's informative, but mildly confusing. I'm not learning it from a proper source. I'm reading a book that dabbles in it a bit, and learning a few things from a friend who plays.

neverasitseems

That makes sense, I guess, but without people who only passively participate in music, or any other artform, it really wouldn't be what it is. I think with art you need people who solely enjoy it, not make it, for it to truly be regarded as an artform. I don't quite know how to explain why I think that, though..

Also, that's the best way to learn, in my opinion. I found that learning how to play an instrument formally had much less passion for the music, it was all just "do this like this" and it takes away all of your individual creativity and interpretation. At least, in my experiences it did, which is why I quit lessons. Learning from a friend allows you to have more fun with it, as well. Probably less stress.

Paedantic Basterd

I think in a lot of ways it's more frustrating, because she doesn't have the resources or skills to teach me properly from a beginner's level. I kind of just jump in to whatever songs she has in her book that I'm familiar with, but that makes it much harder to focus on the counting, and the skill level is far beyond me.