Ask HN: How to Become a Music Buff?

I've learned so much from the Sound Opinions show. It's a weekly hour long music show where the hosts (Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis) interview musicians, producers, historians, and also review albums - both new releases and the occasional classics. Mostly centered around rock and pop they do branch out into hip-hop and jazz occasionally. All of their past episodes are online. They're on NPR once a week.

soundopinions.org

Start playing an instrument and get some lessons.

IME there is nothing that makes you appreciate music more than learning how it works at a really intimate & deep level. You have a super deep connection with the music when you're playing it instead of just being a listener.

I know for me there are whole genre's of music I couldn't appreciate till I started learning to play pieces in those genres. You start to see the interesting and innovative stuff in the music and you appreciate it.

If you're just going to listen.. do not listen while multi-tasking. Sit down and dedicate time to appreciating the music.. put on a nice set of headphones or get a nice stereo system and sit down and listen to a piece all the way through and pay attention to it.

When you are learning to play a piece you will tend to listen to it very carefully to pick out the parts.. if you try to listen at that level it will really pay off even if you're not learning to play the piece.

Just keep listening.

Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap is an amazing look into (somewhat Canadian-focused) classic rock, 60's, 70s, with amazing anecdotes about how it connects with the biggest namns of the last 65 years. Truly awesome radio show. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/2-4294-randy-bachmans-v...

For current music (yes, even pop) I HIGHLY recommend Benji B on BBC Radio 1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v4tv3/episodes/player He has been doing yearly "Best Of" mixes for over 10 years, and if you want to contextualize what's been going on in the last decade-plus of everything club/underground, rap, techno and pop, they're required listening. Whatever bias you have about current music, I promise there's something for you in his programming. Easily one of the best radio DJs in the world.

Second mention is Gilles Peterson, more jazz/world focused than Benji but they crossover numerously, and his programming is just stellar. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fm4ss/episodes/player

Lastly, I'd recommend Pete Tongs "Essential Mix" if you find an artist/DJ that you appreciate, its essentially masterclass mixes on their most inspiring work and adjacent music.

Enjoy

I agree 100% with this. While you can appreciate music it's hard to be a "buff" unless you can try to understand the effort or absolute virtuosity that goes into playing a really complex piece. Knowing that you like the way music sounds is great, but understanding _why_ a particular harmonic shift / change is unexpected, novel, or unique is even better. That said, understanding that sort of theory takes a lot of work and investment.

If you can't make that investment, I'd say watching some videos about theory, or reading up on production, or technique on any instrument will help gain a deeper understanding. Bernstein did the Norton Lectures in the 70s around a language of music (https://youtu.be/8fHi36dvTdE) but even watching somebody like Cory Wong or Jacob Collier go through their composition, playing and process (there are many other artists that do this stuff to) is great for appreciation / buffery.

Finding the music you like (#1) is the OP's challenge. In fact, it's every other music listeners challenge. The "particularly" you mention is also not as obvious: could be the rhythm, the lyrics, the melody, the voice or a mix of all different factors, most of which are subjective. Songs you may like could be spread out in a myriad of styles, origin or periods too. A lot of it is not discoverable right away using streaming services AI, a manual procedure or plain intuition.

But I agree it has more of "viceral" to it than anything else.

My advice to OP: find the radio stations, podcasts or playlists that tickle your fancy and just keep track of what you like as you listen.

OTOH, if you want a more historical approach, read about the music (or watch documentaries/tv shows) before you seek it out. That works for me when reaching out to music that are not on my radar. For instance, during the Xmas holidays I tend to read many Best Albums of YYYY lists, such as the Rolling Stone magazine one. That's how I found Amy Winehouse, Radiohead's In Rainbows among others that would have gone inadvertently for more time. I enjoy reading the "why I should listen to" part.