I just think that this younger generation lacks culture when it comes to music. What can we do?

Question

When I was young I loved to go hear the symphony! I saved for weeks to buy the best recordingds. You had to take music appreciation in school. Do they still make kids do that? Maybe that is why they are so misguided in this area. We need to educate them about good culture and fine music.

Answer 1

The answer is not in wringing your hands and sobbing over the sad state of musical affairs. The best way to spread the joy of great music is to not judge other people's music. Since we are familiar with the great composers, it is up to us to play it for young people who would not hear it otherwise. Take some young people to a performnce.

Our attitude should not be as reformers or as judges, but to offer what we have with a positive and enthusiastic attitude.

The other thing we can do is to familiarize ourselves with young people's music, even if a little. They will be much more open to what we have to say if we are aware of their point of view.

Education, not evangelism is the answer.

Answer 2

I am young. I love the symphony. I love music especially jazz. Kids now days have their brains rotted out by televisions. The see things on there and think they are cool. Little do they know it's just a marketing gimmick to get them to buy buy buy. I concur... I believe that kids today are misguided. I started exploring music at an early age. I knew that the radio wasn't just it. When I went to school I did not have to take music appreciation. I did however had to take music class and learned the recorder. Which I can still play to this day. I think my appreciation for it came from actually being in band. Getting to experience the feeling of each individual part coming together for a power sound.

Answer 3

teach them the history of music and good music ..But the schools are taking out music programs so they aren't getting all the good stuff we received as kids..I was born in 1974 and raised in the 80's so we took valuable educated field trips to museums and our teachers took us to symphonies and educated us on different world cultures and I believe it made us better people as kids an made us cultured adults.
So if the parents would fight as hard as they do for their kids when a teacher is treating there kids bad in class as much as they fight to keep up with the Joneses to give them Prada and cellphones and nonsense crap like that .These kids are going to grow up Dumb and uncultured and have no class at all. These parents are not fighting for real education no more they're to busy trying make their kid the next Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake or whatever new teeny bopper out there were they want there kids to be a celebrity instead of a doctor, or a attorney etc. The new career goal of this millennium is to be a STAR ..Its sad how America has become since 9-11.

Answer 4

I think it's the parents responsibility to expose their children to the finer things in life at an early age. If it sticks, great. If it doesn't, at least they tried.

When I was a kid (I'm 35 now), my parents brought me up on what they listened to in their teens, 20s and 30s...Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Motown. Mixed in was a little blues, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson. A lot of country, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Buck Owens, Eddy Arnold. Pop and jazz, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz. And classical...LOTS of it.

Amazingly, most of it stuck...disco did not stick...but mostly everything else did. I wanted to learn more about the artists I listened to and who they listened to, their influences, a whole new world opened up to me with each new artist I "discovered". If I didn't have the chance to raid the family record collection when I was a kid, who knows what I would have missed out on?!

Every generation has music that defines that generation. The unfortunate fact is...my generation and the current generation is listening to pure crap.

Answer 5

First of all a lot of us do not lack culture or the appreciation for good music. So please stop making hasty generalizations.

I really think that the negative sampling of youth culture that you are seeing is not the dominant one, it is just the one extolled by the media. You turn on the TV and you hear about shootings POSSIBLY related to violent music, then turn the channel and see minimally clothed women dancing around to music with dirty lyrics.

It really bothers me that American adults see American youth as a corrupted and misguided group of people, because a good portion of us are not. Unfortunately, these young people who are actually a positive influence in society are completely ignored in favor of sensational news stories that propagate the viewpoint that we are all wannabe thugs with no appreciation for culture.

So please stop going on about how to "cure" us, because the vast majority of us do not need to be "cured".

Give me a thumbs-down if you want, but I think that I speak for a lot of unfairly discriminated-against youths in American Society.

Answer 6

I read Poopsie's answer and I couldnt agree more. He/She hit it right on the nail! Educate, dont evangelize or judge their music, help them appreciate the GOOD stuff from back in the day, and give them a chance to let you appreciate their music- perhaps why they like it, et cetra. I personally LOVE the old school but I can understand why young people today are so into THE music of today!

Answer 7

Sure youu can do that but rememmber your from a different generation and the world is moving around n a big circule everyday and things change evry day,

I like elvis, bat out of hell, rollingstones, im 25 and thats not from my day but i also like nick cave and the pretenda but there are more commen ones i like too..?

like shakria and nell fretado, fergie and led zepplean

its not that we are misguided its just your not catching up faster enuf to be with the time.

Answer 8

I suppose it depends. I am in my early 20's and I LOVE today's music. Still, I LOVE piano music (Jim Brickman), love 50's music, and the way to my heart is through Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven). I believe there is a balance. Mine is good but so is yours. I do agree that younger people should have more exposure to classics though. I don't agree with Lynn though. Our elders have a great deal to teach us. My grandpa always says "Why learn from your mistakes when you can learn from mine!" Elders can be educated by us on new stuf...they may be interested! But we can definitely learn from them!!! Enjoy your music all!

Answer 9

That is totally crap. Geez! Let us young ones listen to whatever we want before we grow old and bald and ugly. "Good culture" and "fine music" sounds so FREAKING BORING. We need to cherish our time as teenagers, listening to Panic! At The Disco, and Fall Out Boy, and Ludacris, and stuff. TEENAGERS HAVE CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN LIVES AND DON'T NEED ANY HELP FROM OLDER PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT CLASSICAL MUSIC IS THE WAY TO GO!

Answer 10

every generation will establish or create their own form of music as it best expresses their feelings. todays youth is better educated than yesterday and the same holds true everyday.