Do Trained Eyes and Ears Make it Less Fun?
Published by Toni July 22nd, 2005 in Uncategorized.My boyfriend has always been heavily into music. He plays trumpet, the drums, guitar, and a little piano. He was in the school band in high school and was in the UCLA band for a semester in college. He loves classical music.
I like music too, but I’m not nearly as talented or trained as he is in it. I can’t play a single instrument. I can’t read music. I can (sort of) sing, but that’s the limit of my musical abilities. The only classical music I recognize are pieces from old Bugs Bunny cartoons and Walt Disney’s “Fantasia”.
The interesting thing is that, even though my bf is much more knowledgeable than me about music, I think I like more kinds of music than he does and can appreciate more kinds of music than him. We can listen to the same song or piece of music, and I’ll say that I liked it while he’ll say that he didn’t. He’ll be able to detect small mistakes that the musicians make, little nuances that just don’t sound right to his trained ear. But to me it sounds fine.
I was reading through some of my blog friend Tinka’s posts. In one she explained that she has never been a Harry Potter fan, remarking that
I have never read a Harry Potter book. I’ve seen all the Harry Potter movies, and since I already know what happens, I have no desire to read the books. I tried to read the first one, but the language was so commercial, I couldn’t get past the opening paragraph.
I’ve read all the Harry Potter books, including the first one, and I didn’t understand what she meant by commercial. I know that the first book is especially aimed at younger readers and thus the language is simpler, but I couldn’t see what was wrong with it.
Tinka is a very talented writer. She’s been studying the art of writing of years and it shows when you read some of her posts on her blog. I think that perhaps because of her training and talent as a writer, she can identify certain weaknesses of the Harry Potter books that the average reader can’t. Therefore, she can’t find herself to enjoy the book.
I think that it’s cool to be talented in something. I’ve always wanted to be really, really good at something. But at the same time, it seems that people with a trained ear/eye/taste bud/whatever are less easily pleased. It doesn’t mean that they’re snobby or anything; to me, it just means that perhaps what they like is limited. Because of this, I wonder if it’s better to just know a little about everything, be ignorant of minor mistakes, and just enjoy art/music/food/books/movies/etc. for their face value.
What do you guys think?
4 Responses to “Do Trained Eyes and Ears Make it Less Fun?”
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I agree with Tinka. I read the first one. It’s poor. The others I thought were worse.
They’re succesful and people like them, that’s fine. And nowadays anything that gets people to read is a good thing, I think.
Everyone has personal tastes and are entitled to their likes and dislikes. We set limits, because limits make us who we are. Sometimes these limits are called boundaries. I would feel as if my boundaries were violated if I were forced to read or like Harry Potter books just because everyone else thinks they’re fabulous. I’m sure you won’t like everything I read either. I think that manic bestsellers tend to be manic bestsellers because they’re produced in a style that is easily consumed. I don’t like that kind of language because it feels artificial to me.
i know what you mean. i enjoy lots of music because i don’t know better. =P my mum runs a restaurant so has to analyze food - her own and any other we encounter at restaurants or prepared by friends. i tend to enjoy a wider variety than she does but as i’m trying more, amateurly writing up food reviews, i’m also becoming more discerning, turning my nose up at more run-of-the-mill offerings.
i do think that if you’re too good at something, it makes you appreciate that something less as you would take it too seriously.
i have this friend who has this well-trained tongue, as he has been a chief cook in well-known international hotels for years. it is a huge pain to dine out with him, because when everyone is enjoying the meal, he’s criticizing either on the sauce or the display of the food. what about dine-in?? even WORSE!! last time my friend almost started a fight with him, when he was saying how tasteless the chicken was and how disgusting the pasta tasted. mind you, he really used the exact same word “disgusting”.
i have never seen once that he really did enjoy his meal. in this case, god bless my untrained tongue so i could enjoy my food all the time. eating is relaxing, same as listening to music and reading, why take it too seriously??