Originally Posted by: manXcatI actually prefer classical music to contemporary popular music.[/quote]

My absolute favorite music to listen to & be inspired by is Beethoven's. Particularly the 32 piano sonatas & 5 concertos, also the 9 symphonies.

Originally Posted by: manXcatBut my exposure and predilection for what I do like is pretty broad as illustrated in my signature line link featuring a popular song of the day ...[/quote]

I also love particular selections from a broad category of genres. Tunes from the Great American songbook, early jazz, Broadway tunes are definitely a big draw for me also. Lots of great melodies, lush chord progressions & fun swing rhythms! Who could ask more anything more? :D But I don't like all of it.[br][br]And I don't like all classical music. And I while I have endless admiration for Bach, have studied & learned from tons of his music, I don't really enjoy listening to it. Nor much Baroque. Too much endless dreary counterpoint, box checking motion, without the corresponding melodic arcs & dynamic & dramatic turns I love from Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky & Rachmanninoff for example.

And while I admire a great deal of rock guitar, I don't really enjoy listening to most of it. There are a couple of Vai albums I can listen to occasionally. But most of it just isn't my personal preference. Most of the reasons are due to technical consideration: the way he phrases his melodies, the note choices, the harmonic progressions, the song structures & forms. His work is not enjoyable or satisfying to me. In spite of the amazing guitar prowess.

I think the same of most guitar shredders. I admire the skill but don't enjoy certain technical aspects of their music. Malmsteen & Blackmore are exceptions because they do satisfy my personal technical musical consideration check list.

Originally Posted by: manXcatThe 'best' music provokes passionate feeling, evokes contemplation or reflection, or if nothing else is pleasing to the ear if only to make one feel good ...[/quote]

Sure. To that list I personally add: to give me heroic inspiration & make me ready to face the day, meet conflict with determination, carve my way in the world, damn the torpedoes! :D Or at least, that's what I get from Beethoven. :)[br][br]

Originally Posted by: manXcatAnd who doesn't feel good listening for instance to America's "Ventura Highway" on a sunny day cruisin' the 101 to Camarillo or Ventura with the tonneau down?

[p]Well, that would be me. I don't enjoy much laid back strummy acoustic guitar music. And that particular song has a fairly bland melody & chord progression without much conflict or dynamic arc. It's extremely well done, but it's a great example of something I just don't enjoy, mostly for technical reasons, partly for the timbre of the guitar.

[quote=manXcat]If discussion of guitar evokes extremes of strong personal opinon, it's a relative minor skirmish compared with classical compositions and their composers which would present as the equivalent of opinionative virtual nuclear war, as I dare to suspect Christopher might corroberate?

Yes, this mostly has to do with highly complex technical considerations. I've read a great deal about this & studied the music out of curiostiy. But here's thing. Even if I can show how & why I think Beethoven's piano sonatas are superior to virtually any other musical composition (in short, large & small scale themeatic & structural integration), that can never be a reason for someone to stop enjoying music they enjoy & enjoy Beethoven instead.

[quote=manXcat] Other than knowing who and what I prefer aurally from many many years exposure, technical discussion of it is beyond my erudition, my life specialisation expertise lying elsewhere.

Exactly. Life is short. It's enough to know what you enjoy, why you enjoy it & then spend your time enjoying it.

[quote=manXcat]I so wish our conversations could be spoken with all, the supplementary expressiveness of body language, facial expression and vocal inflection that medium offers, as frequently, hyperbole for exaggerative effect or even strongly expressed view can provide offence when none is intended. If I've given any, belated apologies.

Haha! If it helps, while reading my posts, you can imagine my hands waving around dramatically & my voice getting louder when I talk about Beethoven. :D That should give you a reasonable facsimile of the experience.

No worries or need for apologies. I appreciate your passion, candor & the conversation!