Written Response 5

How are musical preferences formed? Daniel Levitin states that our preferences “…have a large social component based on our knowledge of the singer or musician, on our knowledge of what our family and friends like, and knowledge of what music stands for” (p. 246, This is Your Brain on Music). While nature can play a role in musical preferences, my musical preferences are largely based on the social aspects of my life.

Take for example, my preference concerning opera. My mother absolutely hates opera, so growing up I did too. However, when I began to study music at the collegiate level, I found that most of my friends were vocalists. These friends loved and often participated in operas. As they exposed me to more and more opera I grew to enjoy it. There are still some operatic works and vibrato-heavy voices that I cannot stand, but in general I now like opera because of the influence of my friends.

Levitin also states that “Researchers point to the teen years as the turning point for musical preferences” (p. 231) and “our early exposure is often our most profound” (p. 246). This is also true for me. In high school I was exposed to the piano guys. I watched many of their music videos, bought their albums, and attended one of their concerts. They became my favorite group and to this day I keep up-to-date on new music videos and album releases.

Since musical preferences are formed early and are largely social, that means that music educators can largely influence the musical preferences of their students. Therefore, it is important to expose student to a variety of genres so that they will not close themselves off to musical opportunities for the rest of their lives. There are other influences of course, but educators do play a role and as such should strive to have variety in their curriculum.