My Partial Music Taste

Just to clear up: "partial" here means "bias", as in not impartial.

I am not a good musician, but I did received a few years of musical training, so I can tell if someone is singing out of tune. I also took a few English and Chinese lessons while in school, so I can distinguish profound, well thought out lyrics from crappy unimaginative ones. That is to say, given a modern popular song, I can more or less rate it based on its composition and performance. As of late I have chosen to ignore these metrics and instead relied solely on my feelings. In practice this means a song is rated based on 1) voice of singer, 2) performance, 3) music, 4) lyrics, in that order.

To judge a song by the singer's voice is of course a little biased, because a person's voice is more or less fixed at birth and training doesn't change it (training only allows better control of the singer's voice). Thus I am saying that if I like someone's voice, I don't care if the lyric is crap, or the singing is a bit off. It is almost as bad as saying I like the song if the singer looks good. So let my explain why.

I have been listening to music for some time now. I have learned that everyone has their favourite types of music, that there are no universal rating system that fits everyone. Thus we shouldn't impose a set of rules that compares two songs scientifically. This comparison should be done by individual listeners, each with their own verdict.

Music, no matter how grand or skilfully performed, boils down to a bunch of sound frequencies. Saying "I like this song" just means that particular combination of sounds appeals to my ear. It makes no difference whether that sound is the result of practising day and night or just pure talent. I should not have to like a song because it was well performed or well written. It should be because I enjoy listening to it over and over again. Modern pop songs usually uses the same instruments: piano, guitar, drums, and sometimes a little violin or flute. What is always different, however, is the singer's voice. To me, the "right" voice gives me enough utility (or pleasure, if it is not too suggestive for you) to offset the amount I lose from occasional flaws in the performance.

When I started taking piano lessons many years ago, assessing a piece of music meant looking at the execution. Are there any wrong notes? Is it out of tune? Is the rhythm correct? It's like taking an aural test. Nowadays, the questions I ask are: does the music sound pleasant? Does it make me emotional? Does part of the lyrics touch me? Much more relaxing this way, and isn't that the reason we listen to music?