
Ask HN: How to Become a Music Buff? - moonfleet
Music has always been the least appealing art form for me out of the music-film-literature trio. Now I am looking to get more familiar with its history, evolution and simply discover good music.<p>Is there a music buff&#x27;s roadmap, some sort of a chronologically-ordered list of the best and most influential albums that gives a coherent picture of how music evolved over the 20th century? And is that a right approach to becoming a music buff? If not, what is?
======
wheels
Knowing what music you _like_ would be helpful in a discussion like this.
(Context: I've spent a lot of my career working in music or music software.)

It's difficult to expand your musical horizons just by shooting in the dark at
things you _should_ like. But often you can build bridges to new things by
exploring their musical ancestors and descendants. Like classic rock? Start
listening to some blues, then go from there to jazz. Like hip hop? Move
backwards through disco, funk, soul, and, well, there we're back to jazz.

Classical music is a somewhat harder nut to crack if you don't gravitate
towards it. What I've found, however is that some people think they don't like
classical because they don't like Mozart, but then you play something a bit
more modern (say, Stravinsky or so) and that grabs their attention.

If you like electronic stuff, one great book that I read years back, and have
since passed on to several people is this:

[https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Experimental-Music-
Technol...](https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Experimental-Music-Technology-
Culture/dp/1138365467)

It does a very good job of drawing a line from musique concrète and
impressionism all the way through modern stuff like DJ Spooky. There are older
editions of the book that are cheaper used and should be just fine.

If you list some of the things you _do_ like, then it'd be easier for riff off
of that to give you some suggestions for what might expand your horizon.
There's no shame in having unsophisticated tastes at first. I remember having
a student who started off wanting to learn Limp Bizket, and we worked from
there to Rage Against the Machine, then from there to things like King Crimson
and eventually a couple years later he was into pretty sophisticated fusion
stuff.

(Edit: fixed the link)

~~~
sammorrowdrums
This is a solid answer, but I'd also add - there are very few general music
buffs.

Maybe I'd count, with years in pro music performance, degree in Jazz and a
lifetime of listing to and performing an insanely wide variety of genres...
but not a buff for all styles.

Computer systems are actually not a bad analogy. How many people do you know
that have an in-depth knowledge of Assembly in different systems (including
the oldest ones), GPUs, ML, Python, JS, Haskell, C++, Rust, ALGOL, Compilers,
Hardware development, etc. Then add into the mix having an in-depth knowledge
of the creators of those things, what else they did, failures, influences,
their mentors.

You always have the choice of breadth versus depth, within your time
constraints. I think learning about a single artist or band, looking up the
producer, label, members and following up on all those leads to see what else
they have done - and see if you like it is a great beginning.

Some genres like jazz might seem difficult to get into, and that's fine. No
need to delve in until you find a hook that peaks your interest. And then when
you find out about a genre (and jazz is an excellent example) - you'll find
sub-genres you like, and don't and maybe you are interested in the evolution -
like many people love bebop, but don't listen to "dixieland jazz" or big band
swing, or modern fusion.

You will never hear all the music. But depth (in my opinion) breads a lot more
passion than breadth just for the sake of it. So rather than listening to all
the top 40 singles of the last decades, you'd probably be better off listening
to some whole albums, and exploring from there.

Spotify (and similar) make it very easy for breadth, and can help discover new
music you like - but you'll need to put work into delving in deep yourself.

As you do have a passion for film I'd suggest this.

For interesting modern music Quentin Tarantino files always deliver.

Danny Elfman has some interesting stuff (like this Simpsons theme which is a
great example of the Lydian mode...)

John Williams & Hans Zimmer have made loads of epic soundtracks, and if you
like them - look up Holst, Tchaikovsky and Wagner

If you want a weirder launching off point, watch koyaanisqatsi and look up
Philip Glass who made the soundtrack - that's an interesting avenue, albeit
not very mainstream.

Another epic film score is 28 Days Later, John Murphey - parts of which have
been used in loads of other huge features like Kick Ass...

You could also go a different route, and look up how the pre-classical
Pachelbel's Canon contains the chord progression that is arguably the most
popular of all time and watch this mash up of songs that use it (or the first
part)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ)

Hahahaha, I could go on forever! I hope you find something you love, and
actually want to go deeper into.

~~~
cyberdrunk
> If you want a weirder launching off point, watch koyaanisqatsi and look up
> Philip Glass who made the soundtrack - that's an interesting avenue, albeit
> not very mainstream.

Omg that film is absolutely amazing (maybe the best thing I've seen in the
past 10 years) and easily half of the effect is the music.

For epic scores you can't also go wrong with "Requiem for a Dream"...

------
microtherion
You might be going about this in the wrong order. Instead of trying to become
an expert in an art form that does not currently appeal to me, wouldn't it
make more sense to first find instances of this art form that DO appeal to
you, and then branch out from that?

So the order I would suggest is:

1\. Find music you like particularly

2\. Seek out music related to #1

3\. Start thinking about why you like what you like

So, start by establishing a visceral connection to the art before delving into
the analytic side.

~~~
bredren
This is the correct answer.

Being a music buff among music buffs is as much about having a well-developed
taste in music as it is a knowledge of music that influences others.

So start by developing your taste in music. Here’s how:

Using a site like albumoftheyear.org, listen to the first one to three tracks
on the top rated albums from every genre.

Do this every week on Monday. New albums come out later in the week and it
helps to see the how reviews change after more critics and fans listen
repeatedly.

Your goal should be to find albums that you want to listen all the way
through.

Sometimes, You’ll listen to the whole album and want to start it over as soon
as you’re done. Other times you’ll find the album doesn’t live up to its first
few tracks.

Albums you consider great you’ll be lucky to come across once out of a dozen
times, so you have to be patient with the process.

You’ll know you found something you like when It feels exciting to know about
a piece of music like you’re in on a secret. And it makes you want to tell
other people about it.

Share the album with someone and tell them what you like about it.

Going through this process won’t only be a great experience—-you’ll learn your
own taste.

And you’ll have convinced yourself that you in fact do enjoy discovering and
listening to music as much or more than the other art forms you mentioned.

You’ll find you naturally learn about historically important pieces of music
from reading reviews and from talking about music with other people who are
impassioned by it.

The key is to then follow up like you would when you hear a word you don’t
know the definition of, or library that solves something you were considering
coding by hand.

Make a note, listen to the album and think about the context it was mentioned
in.

If it appeals to you go back and listen to the greatest hits if that appeals
to you go through their entire catalog.

------
ajmadesc
Most answers here kind of imply that listening is enough, but I don't think
that's true.

You'll learn a lot more _reading_ about / listening to podcasts about
music[0].

Step 1) Read the American music history Wikipedia article[1]

Step 2) Familiarize yourself with each genre listed.

How? Listen to the biggest hits in each. Explore the full discography of the
genres popular artists. Understand the history and cultural context of each
era.

Learn about how each generation was inspired by the previous. And don't forget
to _Read_ about the music.

If you don't know how to find info about this stuff try your local librarian!

Edit: don't just take it genre by genre. Go through the decades.

[0]][https://www.switchedonpop.com](https://www.switchedonpop.com)
[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_history_of_the_United_St...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_history_of_the_United_States)

------
ben7799
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.

~~~
sailfast
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](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.

~~~
arrakeen
+1 to bernstein-- his young people's concerts are a very approachable
introduction to classical music

------
MogwaiAllOnYou
I don't think this is something you can force, it just happens when you enjoy
music, and a range of music.

A couple tips from me though:

1) Use Spotify, and the personal generated playlists that expand out (ie
Discover Weekly, and Release Radar), avoid the ones that just play what you
listen to a lot, it just reinforces a limited set of songs/albums/artists. And
use the 'Fans also like' section of artists. Spotify's recommendations tend to
really impress me, especially niche stuff

2) Never prejudge music. I used to do this, and since I grew up and stopped,
my music taste has expanded in every direction. Own the embarrassing stuff,
it's music for your enjoyment

3) Give everything a chance. Listened to something which was too
experimental/loud/ambient/whatever? Come back to it later, some genres and
even albums are growers, so never discount anything quickly.

4) There's no bad music. There is music you may not like, there's music which
may be poorly produced/poor musicianship/etc, but music is about more than the
sum of it's parts

__Edit__

Nearly forgot the most important IMO.

5) Songs are (for the most part) designed to sit in their place as a chapter
in an album. They typically make more sense in the context of the other songs,
so try and listen to full albums rather than songs or playlists. And make sure
to turn off shuffle!

~~~
amanaplanacanal
About number 5. I think that was only true for a short period: From the time
the LP was invented until music streaming hit the mainstream. Before the LP,
it certainly wasn’t true, and we seem to now be moving away from that format.

~~~
MogwaiAllOnYou
Hmm I agree with what you say, but I only think it's pop music that is moving
away from that format

------
rudyfink
There may be something better, but I found something similar to what you are
looking for in [https://www.allmusic.com](https://www.allmusic.com) years ago.
They grouped music by genre (and sub-genres) and noted significant artists and
albums by year within each genre.

I went through the genres, working from the past to the present and ended up
with a much broader experience in music because of it.

They still seem to have most of those features.

For example, they have a list of genres
([https://www.allmusic.com/genres](https://www.allmusic.com/genres)). If you
go into a genre, say blues, there are lists of significant albums and artists.
You have to click on the "list view", but that exposes the year of the album
or artist. At the very bottom of the genre page (almost hidden) are lists of
sub genres that you can break out. Each of these has the same highlighted
album and artist information. If you go into detail on an individual artist,
say Robert Johnson, they have bio, discography, and related artist /
influences ([https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-johnson-
mn0000832288/...](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-johnson-
mn0000832288/related)) information.

All that said, the site does not seem as easy to use as I remember (but that
could be my memory). But, hopefully, it is at least a start towards what you
are looking for!

~~~
cognaitiv
AMG is really amazing. I can’t think of a more comprehensive encyclopedia of
well curated music-related data and thoughtful criticism in one place. It
would be really exciting if this database were available publicly a la
MusicBrainz because the rich relationship graph encourages novel interfaces to
explore the content.

Before all of this information was readily available on the internet, The
Rolling Stone Album Guide was the de facto reference and a used copy can be
had for around $5. Like any critical rating of art, ymmv, famously Led
Zeppelin.

[https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/117198.The_New_Rollin...](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/117198.The_New_Rolling_Stone_Album_Guide)

For current artists I usually turn to Pitchfork for news and criticism, RS
tends to have a strong boomer bias.

[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/)

------
luigibosco
Finding an music/artists you like and seeing who their influences are and
checking them out may be one path. DJ's can cut through that even faster since
they surface and reference more material.

There are also a lot of movies out there - Béla Fleck made a movie tracing the
banjo back to africa Throw Down Your Heart, if your looking to chronological
type stuff in America, Ken Burns did a series on American Jazz and Country
music - [https://www.pbs.org/kenburns](https://www.pbs.org/kenburns), Muscle
Shoals, Buena Vista Social Club, The Nu LatAm Sound may be of interest for non
western movies

[https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs](https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs)
[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-
lists/500-greatest-...](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-
lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826) (take with a grain of salt)

so much music, so little time!

------
werber
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1001_Albums_You_Must_Hear_Befo...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1001_Albums_You_Must_Hear_Before_You_Die)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time)

These are great starters, I would recommend going through and finding out what
periods and artists speak to you and then joining Spotify and using their auto
generated playlists to dig deeper. They do an AMAZING job if you <3 the songs
you really get into. My personal taste is really scattered, gen z pop, old
school country, punk, hip hop, 90's hi-nrg and house, disco, and they somehow
consistently find new music that speaks to me.

------
farleykr
For me, trying to follow some sort of quantification of what's "best" is what
leads to the frustration feeling like I am missing something because I don't
like something that's supposedly great . There's nothing objective about
liking music. Some music moves us and some doesn't. Artists that are deemed to
be the best are usually just artists that have sold a lot of records, which
means a lot of people happen to like them (or they have good marketing
strategies). You might like some of those artists because you might fall in
the majority but you might not.

The search is part of the enjoyment. Start listening to whatever you can find
that you think you might like and if you don't like it just put it aside and
look for something else. If you do like it, you will probably be compelled to
find more music like it. Look for interviews with the artist or band members
and they'll probably talk about their influences and other artists they
themselves like. Go listen to those artists and repeat the process. If you
like those artists keep digging. If not, go somewhere else and find some other
music.

There must be at least one song or artist who interests you. I'd recommend
starting there. One of my favorite albums is Love Man, by Otis Redding. Maybe
give it a shot and see if you like it :)
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kyK5LvO6EbPrUC...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kyK5LvO6EbPrUCvFoBRpxAKMdYUISvZKE)

Also, go see some live music. Seeing music live is almost incomparable to
listening to music through headphones or car speakers.

------
mattbee
Sheesh Data, find something you like and listen to it! Repeat .. Enjoy falling
down Wikipedia holes to read about the music you like. Go out to gigs. It'll
go in but your knowledge will be different to everyone else's

Though if you really don't like music why do you think you can get good at it?

Like I feel like I have almost no knowledge of painting, and that it's
important in some sense, and I'll go to exhibitions but... None of it goes in.
I can't answer questions on what I've seen. (But music mostly did.)

------
madhadron
> Is there a music buff's roadmap, some sort of a chronologically-ordered list
> of the best and most influential albums that gives a coherent picture of how
> music evolved over the 20th century? And is that a right approach to
> becoming a music buff?

Probably not, because it doesn't start from where you are. For example, my I
happen to like the music of the second Viennese school (well, Schoenberg and
Webern; I don't much like Berg's work). My parents both regarded it with
confusion. So I sat them down and played a whole series of pieces, first going
back from common practice into the Renaissance to get outside common practice
tonality, and then forward through Puccini to Stravinsky, each stepwise
leading their ears so when we got to Schoenberg's 4th string quartet they
could hear it and say, "Alright, I see how this isn't a crazy departure and I
kind of hear what's going on."

Now, my parents were steeped in Baroque and classical period music, so their
starting point is unlikely to help you.

Someone else suggested a music appreciation course, which probably is the
right way. You need some kind of framework to explore in and enough sampling
of the space to be able to get a hint of what you like.

If you just want to get started right now, I suggest starting with the
Beatles, which are the only artists that I think pretty much every western
musician of the 20th century is conversant with, from Baroque music
specialists to grunge metal players.

------
cultus
For me, listening to human DJs on non-commercial radio stations has expanded
my knowledge and tastes massively. It's a good way to learn about a wide
variety of music and keep current. That knowledge can be used as a springboard
for further exploration.

I like KEXP [0], a well-known community radio station from Seattle. They have
many shows with all kinds of genres, as well as live music and discussion.

[0] [https://kexp.org/](https://kexp.org/)

------
bloat
If you are interested in classical music - here's a couple of good books on
the 20th century.

    
    
      "The Rest Is Noise" by Alex Ross
      "Modern Times, Modern Places" by Peter Conrad
    

The first is just music, the second one covers art and culture in general but
has a lot about music.

"America's Musical Life: A History" by Richard Crawford is also great,
focusing on America obviously and covers more than just the 20th century.

~~~
autarch
I second The Rest Is Noise recommendation. I really enjoyed it. Make sure to
check out the companion website, which has tons of samples of the music he
discusses.

------
notnoided
There are so many radio shows that explore the exponentially growing music-
verse out there.

Bandcamp is a great place for music artists. Here a huge chunk of the profits
go direct to the artists, so it's got every possible kind of music from nobody
you've ever heard of.

They have a weekly radio show called The Bandcamp Weekly. It's super varied
but they're friendly and they often do themes each week. Give it a go

~~~
tkgally
Another great choice for radio shows is BBC Sounds. Wide range of genres, good
song/piece selections in each genre, and, in most cases, a reasonable amount
patter about the music.

Most of the music I’ve come to like in recent years I heard first on the BBC.
Radio 3 is a particular treasure.

------
kamonrye
Find what you like and then deep dive into that genre. Learn the history about
it, look up the producers, the stories behind the albums, the songwriters, the
studios that they were recorded at even.

A lot of historical context can be built from that. And you also find more
artists that way. Also if you really want to get into it, look up the
instruments that are influential in the process of the albums you find. For
example, J Dilla's MPC was one of the most important tools of the 90s Neo-Soul
and Hip Hop scene (it's actually in the Smithsonian). But other producers have
mastered it and its decedents... like Araab Musik, Pete Rock, or Kanye.

If you want to be a person who respects all different genres of music, look
into the history of genres as you explore them and find the most influential
albums in that genre (usually this correlates to albums sells for "popular"
music, influential is usually tied to the network of artists someone has
influenced, worked with, produced for, etc).

Hopefully that helps. I'm a huge music buff, so I'd be happy to discuss.

~~~
abap_rocky
I agree 100%. I think hip-hop in particular makes it very easy to trace these
relations with it's heavy use of samples and collaboration.

For example, Common's Album "Be" is the album that started me on my path back
in 2009. I really liked the album and using those relations I was able to
discover so much more music:

1\. Kanye West produced it

    
    
      -> Check-out other Kanye production credits
    
        -> Jay-Z's "The Blueprint"
        -> Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III"
        -> Kanye's solo albums
    

2\. Marvin Gaye's "God is Love" is sampled in the song "Love is..."

    
    
      -> Check-out Marvin Gaye's album "What's Going On"
    

3\. John Legend is a feature on "They Say"

    
    
      -> Check-out John Legend's album "Get Lifted"
    

Of course, it might be a little silly to think I needed to discover big names
like Kanye, Common and John Legend but the process of discovering them through
the music itself can help separate the artist from some of their non-musical
pursuits that might not be as interesting.

------
mdre
This is literally the exact thing you seek. Piero Scaruffi's website.
[https://www.scaruffi.com/music.html](https://www.scaruffi.com/music.html)

------
elwell
This must be one of the most 'HN' posts I've ever seen. Aiming to become a
"music buff", to me, is missing the point of music. In HN terms, you could say
it's 'orthogonal'. Just listen to some different kinds of music, and find out
what you like. If you become a 'buff' along the way, that's nice I guess.

------
riffnote
Get personally involved, have some skin in the game, and you'll get much more
out of music.

About a year ago I started a project called Poseur to Composer. My goal is to
play an instrument and learn enough music theory to compose songs I'm proud of
(it's been a slow and humbling process, and I'm still working at it). Along
the way I've discovered many new artists and genres, and I listen to music -
no, _engage_ with music - in a much different way now.

In case anyone's interested, here is where I've blogged my progress:
[https://poseurtocomposer.postach.io/page/sitemap](https://poseurtocomposer.postach.io/page/sitemap)
and a recent newsletter I sent that encapsulates what I've accomplished thus
far:
[https://mailchi.mp/60c7dfc7bcbb/rediscovery](https://mailchi.mp/60c7dfc7bcbb/rediscovery)

------
HeadHonchoSP
Once you figure out your top artist this online tool is pretty nifty if you
want to find niches. It works on user data. Clusters artists that are similar
in style with the closest one to your selected being the most similar in
style: [https://www.music-map.com/](https://www.music-map.com/)

------
pvaldes
> How music evolved over the 20th Century?

Music married with electricity and that helped to create a cambrian explosion
of creativity. This is the major contribution from the 20th Century to the
history of music and nothing will be the same after this.

That spawned 1) Rock first, based in the electric guitar, and 2) an sea of
Electronic music later, based in the synthesizer.

To focus in the second part, here you have a selection of albums to experience
several flavours of electronic and experimental music, from dark wave to big
beat, space rock or synthpop. Just one album representative of each group was
chosen; not necessarily their best or the easiest to listen, but all deserve
to be here for different reasons.

Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine

Yello - Stella

Pink Floyd - The Dark Face of the Moon

OMD - Dazzle Ships

Tricky - Maxinquaye

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Bjork - Homogenic

The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land

Moby - Play

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole

Pet Shop Boys - Please

Fatboy Slim - You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Depeche mode - Violator

Radiohead - Kid A

Gary Numan - Hybrid

Jean Michel Jarre - Oxigene

The Cure - Disintegration

~~~
lozf
Whilst it may not have been as popular back then, electronic music actually
predates Rock. The Theremin for instance, invented in 1922 was not the first
electronic musical instrument, but it is one of the few from that era that
still makes an appearance these days.
[https://120years.net](https://120years.net) has more on electronic
instruments through the years.

------
plexiglas
I suggest searching for documentaries on your favorite genre, whether it be
Jazz, Rock, or Hip Hop. Jot down the artists/labels that pique your interest.
Research those groups online.

In parallel, learning music is best when you're having fun. You should start
with your favorite artists and dive deeper into their discography. Research
the label they were on (fruitful if the label is independent). Look into their
contemporaries. Who were those artists? Maybe they were associated with a
larger movement/scene, and so on.

Finally, listen to more music! Everything (almost) is on Youtube or Spotify.
Make it a point to listen to music everyday.

------
grawprog
I usually start with music I like, then work back and outwards from there.
I'll find similar artists, artists from that time period, previous artists
that influenced them, then go check them out and repeat the process.

Once I find some music I like, I start looking into the details of that genre.
How it's constructed where it came from, what genres influenced it.

It's fascinating when you start getting into it.

But, if you don't enjoy it, I'm not sure how well it's going to go. It's hard
to be a fan of something you don't really like that much.

------
mike_mg
For modern music, the definitive resource (in my experience) is RYM:
[https://rateyourmusic.com/](https://rateyourmusic.com/). It has several
advantages: 1) extremely broad coverage - it is almost "list of all music
ever" 2) the community has rated all of this music and "has good taste" 3)
nice sorting and search capability

How to use: a) For overview of most important albums which is at the same time
a reasonable overview of modern music history, use the default sorting
[https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart](https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart)
b) after you get into specific sub-genre's, use the sorting. For example, you
discover you like Japanese 90s city-pop? Here's the query for you
[https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart?page=1&chart_type=top&...](https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart?page=1&chart_type=top&type=album&year=1990s&genre_include=1&include_child_genres=1&genres=city+pop&include_child_genres_chk=1&include=both&origin_countries=&limit=none&countries=)
c) for music discovery, browse recommendation lists of people there. It is a
true gold-mine of great music

For completness, to rollingstone.com and npr, I add pitchfork.com which is
arguably the most important "independent" medium

~~~
adamors
Seconding RYM, imo the best place to find music worth listening if you don't
have time to go through everything. The community is also very good in
curating lists for various tastes.

------
Pandabob
The book Range, by David Epstein has a pretty interesting chapter on music and
the history of improvisation.

I knew that Django, the Python web dev framework, had been named after some
obscure dutch musician. But after reading the book I had a wholly new
appreciation for Django Reinhardt [1], the artist. Man was truly a great jazz
improviser, whose legacy now lives on in the framework.

[1]:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt)

~~~
jemsouse
Django Reinhardt is neither an obscure musician nor Dutch... It's the father
of a style called Jazz Manouche. Maybe is not well known in the US.

~~~
52-6F-62
Fun fact: Django was a big influence on Willie Nelson who is, of course, very
well known in the US. It might not be overly obvious because of the genre
disparities but listen to Willie's guitar phrasing.

------
justsomeaccount
Nobody mentioning "the internet's busiest music nerd"/ The needle drop?

He has a very active youtube channel talking about various records. He usually
talks about new releases, but here is a playlist of his reviews for albums
considered "classics"
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP4CSgl7K7or_7JI7RsEs...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP4CSgl7K7or_7JI7RsEsptyS4wfLFGIN)

------
ericzawo
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...](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/2-4294-randy-bachmans-
vinyl-tap)

For current music (yes, even pop) I HIGHLY recommend Benji B on BBC Radio 1.
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v4tv3/episodes/player](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](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

------
nikk1
My recommendations that have not been mentioned on this thread yet:

33 1/3 book series
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33%E2%85%93](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33%E2%85%93)

deep cuts youtube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRYhCg0DHloE9gn-
PAiAYNg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRYhCg0DHloE9gn-PAiAYNg)

------
DataWorker
If you like literature then focus on lyrics. The country genre, folk and rap
can be appreciated from a literary angle if you can’t hear well or recognize
intervals or anything. If you like movies, try on some musicals and then wade
into opera. The lines between the thee areas op mentions are somewhat
artificial. You can spend more time reading about music than listening, and
that still counts as enjoying music.

------
thrwn_frthr_awy
I took a History of Rock and Roll course at my local community college and
learned more in 4 months than 30 years of listening to "deep tracks".

------
Gatsky
For electronic music there is this wondrous creation:

[https://music.ishkur.com/](https://music.ishkur.com/)

------
chrisandchips
>Is there a music buff's roadmap, some sort of a chronologically-ordered list
of the best and most influential albums that gives a coherent picture of how
music evolved over the 20th century?

This is a huge undertaking as a LOT of music has been made during that time
period, covering a huge amount of genres and cultural movements. I think
you're going to get overwhelmed.

Is there a reason why youre more concerned with the history of the medium than
current releases ? We are living in one of the best times in history to access
new music. It can be as simple as finding a reviewer/website you like and
following their recommendations.

With that said, there are a lot of amazing albums that have been released in
the past, this goes without saying. But like other people have mentioned, the
best approach is an organic one. Find compilations of famous albums or
singles, listen to them, focus on what you like, read up about the genre and
find other recommendations. I find youtube is especially good at taking you
down rabbit holes.

If you dont know where to start, you can look at 4chans music boards
"essential" albums [1] and see what appeals to you. Never thought I would
recommend something from that site but it actually did expose me to a lot of
new stuff 10 years ago. Other popular sites like Pitchfork and Sputnik music
tend to write articles about influential albums or genres.

If you are interested in the "why" behind some of the history, David Byrne
(formerly of the Talking Heads) wrote a phenomenal book on the subject called
"How Music Works", that explains a lot of important shifts in the mediums
history.

[1]
[https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts](https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts)

------
dcolkitt
Of course any answer you'll get is by its very nature opinionated. But /mu/
essentials tends to have a pretty good cross-section of the most important and
foundational works across a wide variety of genres.

[https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts](https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts)

------
leoedin
I've realised over the past decade that my brain just isn't wired to allow me
to be a music buff.

I absolutely love music and the emotional effects it has. But I can never
remember the names of songs, or how they sound. It means when I try to play
music at a party, first I have to look it up by finding the playlist I put it
in, and then it inevitably falls flat - missing the mood in the room by being
too sad or happy or heavy or melodic. Many of my friends do this instinctually
- they can throw songs into the queue and they fit the mood.

The one area I can seem to remember is actual bands I've seen perform.
Something about engaging with live music sets it in my mind.

So while I think investing time into music if you enjoy it is worthwhile,
there's no point forcing yourself. It might be that you're just not wired that
way. And that's ok!

------
gorgoiler
If you want to go a bit off-piste, 20th and 21st century liturgical choral
music is an excellent choice.

As a bonus: gigs are free and in most cities happen every night (at evensong,
which also comes with free mindfulness and meditation sessions, as well as a
chance for a singalong with the crowd.)

The choirs range from school and college scholarship level to outright
professionals and they will often have albums where you can explore their
repertoire, and branch off from there. In essence: they put together the need-
to-know pieces on your behalf, which assists massively in increasing buff-
level.

I find the ensemble of male voice to also be incredibly relaxing:

[https://open.spotify.com/track/12hKtoAt7uiDgqIzrqWWr4?si=O8d...](https://open.spotify.com/track/12hKtoAt7uiDgqIzrqWWr4?si=O8drli2qSV25bru-Q7SDhg)

------
branon
RateYourMusic and a few decent BitTorrent trackers should get you started.
Listen to what you like.

~~~
grenoire
+1 for RYM. It's one of the greatest curated resources with a ton of ratings
and metadata.

I think a good start for you might just be going to RYM Charts
([https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart](https://rateyourmusic.com/customchart))
and selecting a genre. You'll find the top rated albums, and can further
filter by the decade. That's my #1 music discovery source.

~~~
spanhandler
That's a _damn_ fine looking list. I cannot understand why people like King
Crimson no matter how hard I try, let alone well enough for In the Court... to
place at #5, but otherwise, looks great to me.

For anyone starting from nearly-scratch with popular music I'd recommend a
chronological approach to lists like this. Don't start at #1—cut the list off
with however many you're willing to commit to listening to, then order them by
release date, and start at the beginning. For the earliest entries consider
hunting down the major influences on their genre or a couple major popular
acts from the preceding 10-20 years before them to get a sense of where they
came from—maybe a few tracks of ragtime, a crooner or two, a couple big-band
acts, some early and mid-period jazz, maybe an album of "standards" or
something, a small selection of early rock. That's a decent set-up for
starting on 60s-and-on popular music, which is mostly what these lists treat
(Kind of Blue is almost always the highest-ranking exception to the "60s and
later" rule)

[EDIT] incidentally, I don't see a CSV or Excel export option for the list on
this site, even in the list of "subscriber" features that I could unlock by
paying $15. I am entirely certain I'm not the only person who _needs_ my lists
to end up somewhere like that so I can mess around with sorting, checking-off,
and so on :-)

~~~
grenoire
An API has been on their to-do list for quite a long time, not sure how the
progress is on that. It would be absolutely great, bringing opportunities to
make automated curators and whatnot.

------
bumelant
Music of XX century is rather a broad subject, but I assume - from your
question - you are looking for popular music genres like pop, rock, hiphop,
etc.

In fact, most of this music has been as much a cultural phenomenon and and a
statement of a generation, as it was... music. Not being rude to individual
artists, who were at times very talented, a lot of this music is musically
rather simplistic and doesn't require any preparation, but a cultural context.
Granted your film-literature preferences, a good territory to start
explorations from would be watch a few music movies, like the history of the
Doors etc. that could give you the context needed and you are all set for many
months of listening. But is all largely about youthful energy, about love, a
man vs society, about dance and drugs. So - if you are not too young anymore -
it can be a bit boring ;)

One exception would be jazz, that is a bit more complex to grasp, but again -
you have a good series from Ken Burns to start with. That being said, to enjoy
jazz truly in it's more complex genres, I would argue at least certain musical
background is beneficial, maybe some youtube talks etc.

Classical music... well this is a true ocean. Just Beethoven piano sonatas
could be a passion for a year or two. You're talking about XX century, and
there's been great classical music published in that period! But probably - if
you go that route - you really want to start with renaissance and baroque.
Here a lot of great introductory courses are available. If you don't have
musical background, Robert Greenberg series on Great Courses is really an
entertaining and valuable intro.

And then there is world music, ranging from African roots bands playing drums
to Indian classical music.

Now - having all that said - my personal perspective is that to enjoy music,
you want to enjoy music. What I mean by that, is that you might want to dance,
sing, play! Even a simple baroque dance, played by your self, could be way
more gratifying that latest dull pop hit. If you really want to enjoy music
and not just be a pop music encyclopedia who knows names of The Beatles - you
should do one of these!

------
mushufasa
There's the beatles, which are worth following chronologically as a sense of
how pop music evolved. The "Beatles Anthology" documentary series is great.

Other than that, music is really too diverse and varied to approach
systematically IMO, especially from the perspective of individual taste (as
opposed to, say, academic ethnomusicology). My suggestion would be tasting
assortments of artists within subgenres until you stumble upon something you
love, and branching from there. The free NTS internet radio station
([https://nts.live](https://nts.live)) has a lot of searchable shows curated
by musicians, so I really recommend that resource for exploration.

------
jbob2000
There's a distinction between a _music_ buff and an _audio_ buff.

If you want to be a music buff, my suggestion is to learn how to play an
instrument. This will give you the understanding to appreciate music; you
can't truly understand a musician's talent until you try to play what they can
and fail. You can't appreciate the complexity of a piece that has changing
time signatures (for example) _if you don 't even know how to count time_.
You'll end up listening to the same chord progressions over and over (G-C-D
come to mind...) if you don't know how to identify what you're listening to.

If you want to be an audio buff, buy some expensive speakers and then just
follow you ears.

------
neap24
I think it’s pretty simple, actually. Start playing an instrument (or dig
deeper into playing an instrument). Most “music buffs” I respect are decent
musicians themselves. I great prefer a musician’s music recommendations to a
music critic’s who doesn’t play.

------
iak8god
This is a book recommendation, not a chronologically-ordered list, but I found
it helpful to round out my music appreciation and exposure: 'Every Song Ever:
Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty' by Ben Ratliff

The book walks through musical concepts, one per chapter, and points to
illustrative examples.

I've also found it interesting to check out top posts on these music
appreciation/discovery subreddits:

\-
[https://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/](https://www.reddit.com/r/listentothis/)

\-
[https://www.reddit.com/r/listentous/](https://www.reddit.com/r/listentous/)

------
hatboxreappoint
These are interesting blueprints for hip hop and alternative music.

[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1260/3883/products/hip-
hop...](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1260/3883/products/hip-hop-love-
blueprint-art-print-dorothy-
hero_6072392e-bdaf-49fb-9f1c-f8165ff08eb1.jpg?v=1519296749)

[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1260/3883/products/alterna...](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1260/3883/products/alternative-
love-blueprint-art-print-dorothy-hero.jpg?v=1519742525)

~~~
reinhardt1053
Where can I find more of these?

~~~
heynk
I was able to find the store that offers these, and a bunch more.
[https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music](https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music)

------
screye
I approach it the way I would approach a reinforcement learning problem.

1st exploration -> then exploitation.

Start by randomly listening to the most popular stuff from random genres,
until something somewhat sticks.

Then reduce your search range to the type of music you liked, go to the
"enthusiasts forum" for that genre (usually a subreddit) and find the 'true
gems'.

Then do periodic MCMC random walk, where I go from my current genre to the
most likely adjacent genres to branch out.

For the music I listen to, the chronological journey goes as follows: (with
each genre capturing a couple of decades)

Jazz, Blues -> Rock -> psychedelic rock, metal -> prog rock , Frank Zappa,
death metal-> prog metal -> experimental prog

------
joeberon
There is way too much music compared to film and literature as it's so much
easier, faster, and cheaper to make. Many of people's favourite albums were
recorded over periods of days and weeks, while books can take years to write,
and films are crazy often needing thousands of people. Additionally it is so
incredibly subjective to the point that no one can agree on classics and it
evolves much more quickly.

Really, there is no such thing as being a "music buff", but you can be a "jazz
buff" for example! I'd say pick something mildly pretentious to feed your
clearly slightly overinflated ego and dig deep into the history of that genre.

------
paradox242
There was a time when I was younger (back in the early 90's) when I thought I
just didn't like music that much. Turns out I just really didn't like the sort
of music that was played on the radio. Once I discovered what was then termed
"alternative" music that opened up entire vistas of the kind of music that was
out there. It was just really hard to find back then. In 2020 there this is
not the case and finding great music in niche genres is easier than ever. Just
listen to a bit of everything until something hooks you and then let the
recommendation engine of YouTube, Spotify, etc take you down the Rabbit Hole.

------
deltron3030
>If not, what is?

Follow your current taste, and go backwards from there. What are the
influences of the musicians and groups you like? What are the influences of
their influences? This is how most people I know, including myself discovered
music.

~~~
52-6F-62
This is the approach I'd recommend, too. It's a far lower barrier of entry
than the countless tomes people are recommending, too.

Go down the rabbit hole.

------
asciimov
A great jumping in spot would be to watch Ken Burn's Jazz and Country Music
Documentaries. Two other shorter documentaries that I can recommend is "The
Wrecking Crew" (2015) and "It Might Get Loud" (2009)

Listening to music isn't gonna do you a lot of good unless you have context.
For example, The Beatles and Beach Boys influenced each other. Rubber Soul led
to Pet Sounds which led to Sgt. Pepper which led to Smile.

Another consideration is that some of the real influencers aren't well known
or popular, and some of them were not the singers but the music writers,
producers, and musicians.

------
bryanrasmussen
What is it that makes it less interesting to you - what about graphical arts,
sculpture, architecture?

Given your list I would suppose maybe you like things with a complex
narrative, or as is the case for me - music with clever/complex lyrics.

So you could look for music that has a complex narrative, but obviously that
helps you find music best suited for you and not helping you build an
understanding of what is appealing about music or what makes for 'good' music
artistically speaking.

Although maybe you can jump from music appealing to you to a broader feeling
for music in general.

Is there some music or musicians you find more appealing than others?

------
minimuffins
This is not exactly a direct answer, but I've really enjoyed clicking through
this expansive guide to electronic music:

[https://music.ishkur.com/](https://music.ishkur.com/)

------
savanaly
After I listened to the podcast Conversations with Tyler interview music
writer Ted Gioia [0] (one of the topics: "how to cultivate excellent taste in
music") I would have to say a good place to start is read books by him, follow
him on Twitter. He seems to have the well-roundedness, the breadth and the
intelligence to be a good ad-hoc guide to the world of music.

[0] [https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ted-
gioia/](https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ted-gioia/)

------
subpixel
I'm very much a dilettante but a piano teacher taught me a few boogie woogie
songs when I was in middle school. That planted a seed that has turned into a
lifelong love for the music of New Orleans, which is essentially the source
and pulse of American music, full stop.

A benefit of exploring this music is that while the tradition is both deep and
broad it's also very much alive, and there are tons of ways to get into it. A
great start is to listen to WWOZ (wwozy.org) and to google all the artists
that you like. I could do that all day if it paid.

------
Yhippa
Honestly I would focus on figuring out a way to get access to a large body of
music where you can arbitrarily access almost everything. So a Spotify, Apple
Music, and YouTube Music. If you have any music you like those services will
likely have suggestions and you can go down the rabbit hole.

Alternatively, search Google for "top [insert genre here] songs".

The most important thing IMO is to start listening to as many different things
as you can and dive deeper from there. Then you can get all academic on your
preferred genres like everybody mentions here.

------
thebigspacefuck
Make sure you have some decent headphones/speakers before you start, which
will allow you to pick up the subtleties in what’s playing. Then get a
streaming service with high quality. RateYourMusic is pretty good for
organizing best albums of each year or decade, by genre as well. It might not
have what was popular from a historical perspective but is probably a good
start. I check out different genres and then read about them on Wikipedia,
which has a ton of information about every genre and chronology of music.

~~~
ethbro
This.

My mind was blown when I heard the 2013 remaster of The Eagle's "Taking It
Easy".

Original:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZZHNRHA2g&t=1m36s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZZHNRHA2g&t=1m36s)

Remaster:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v8KEbQA8kw&t=1m36s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v8KEbQA8kw&t=1m36s)

I never knew there was a backing bluegrass guitar on the track!

------
dagurp
What worked for me is to blindly listen to bands whos names kept coming up.
For example I heard that the Police were supposed to be a big deal so I dug up
an album by them and listened through the whole thing. If I liked what I heard
I would hunt down more albums (or CD's because this was mostly in the 90's and
00's). I would do the same thing if I heard a song I liked on the radio.
Gradually you will find out what genres you like and you'll be able to
discover similar artists.

------
uniqueid
The nature of the question strikes me as a bit odd. If you don't have any
enthusiasm for music history, I don't see what's to be gained by forcing
yourself to learn about it. If it's not for fun, other subjects would have a
greater impact on your career.

At any rate, the easiest thing to do would be to dive into classical music,
rather than popular music. In classical, there's only around a dozen composers
with whom anyone expects you to be familiar.

------
aklemm
You could do worse than:

1) Tune into HD college radio stations so you get exposed to a lot of stuff
and you can see the artist/track names.

2) Make and explore play lists on Spotify.

3) Google artists that interest you.

------
AdmiralAsshat
I think there's too much music out there to become a "buff" of every genre.
You can certainly learn a _little_ about every genre, but otherwise, I think
you should pick a genre and focus on that.

My recommendation would be to look at the most famous/most popular musicians
in the respective genre you're studying, and then follow the links from there.
Learn who influenced them, and who they influenced. And then follow the
organic web from there.

------
regulation_d
I've been listening to the Music Exists podcast by Chuck Klosterman and Chris
Ryan (unfortunately available only on Spotify). It's quite good and definitely
introduced me to some new stuff.

While I feel like I've been doing a fairly good job of keeping up with music
for the last decade, their knowledge of music, even from before they were
born, is extensive and got me interested in exploring stuff that came out
before I really cared about music.

------
phlipski
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

------
mitchbob
Are there particular genres of music you'd like to learn about? There are lots
of genres--classical, jazz, rock and roll, R&B, many flavors of "world", and
more--each with its own history and evolution and literature, with influences
between genres and lots and lots of cross-fertilization. I'd suggest starting
with one that's a current favorite and branch out from there.

------
anm89
I listen to all of my music on YouTube unless I'm playing records at my house
and the algorithm has exposed me to a huge amount of amazing music over the
years.

Go to YouTube, pick one of the more niche things you like, hit autoplay, and
then if something random you like comes up start the process over with the new
thing as the initial search. I promise you this works.

------
banach
To learn to appreciate concert music I can warmly recommend the Great Courses’
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music:
[https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-listen-to-
and...](https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-listen-to-and-
understand-great-music-3rd-edition.html)

------
shripadk
What kind of music are you talking about here? Do you want for Western music?
Or are you willing to explore Eastern music too?

------
alistairSH
You didn't mention classical, but I find many of the YouTube videos featuring
Benjamin Zander (Boston Philharmonic) to be delightful. Particularly the
interpretation sessions with younger musicians.

I'm not generally a classical lover, but the energy he brings when discussing
the music, with a bit of context, works for me.

------
largespoon
Maybe load up some rolling stone's(the magazine) lists on your favorite
streaming service, and read the Wikipedia entry for each band/song that
interests you. They aren't in chronological order, but they have top 500 lists
for the most important albums, songs and musicians.

------
at_a_remove
I don't know if I am a music buff -- what are the qualifications? I have a few
thousand CDs, some of them fairly rare, and I am the person my friends turn to
when they need to track down a song or rare release. By those standards ...

1) Find your passion. I generally despise this as advise for careers and the
like but when it comes to matters of personal preference, _de gustibus non est
disputandum_. What do you like?

2) Hit Discogs for your bands. Don't just look at main albums, look at
appearances and rarities, songs covered by the band, appearances on
soundtracks (which can often be one-offs) and the like. For certain bands, I
literally own everything they performed in because I like all of it. This is
_depth_. After that, follow each member of a band to hear if they did anything
before or after you enjoy. Even try session musicians. You may find a talented
collaborator that way, too. This is _breadth_.

3) Find a radio program adjacent to your tastes and examine the weekly
playlist. What did you like? Here you are riding in the slipstream of a great
big truck, as the DJ is doing a lot of the work for you.

4) Ignore most recommendation algorithms but Pandora, which are based on what
other people play rather than what is actually related.

5) Don't be afraid to reach out. I have written musicians letters (snail mail,
self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed) and said, "I really like X, Y, and
Z" or "Your performance on this track moved me" then asked what inspired them,
influenced them, or if they have influenced others. I usually hear back.

6) Attend concerts and listen to the opening acts, buy their (typically cheap)
CDs. The openers appreciate it and you can find some great somewhat related
music that way.

7) Back in the days when record stores existed, I would hit the "M" section or
whatever letter, any band that didn't have a tab of their own, and just flip
through it, looking for anything to catch my eye, then listen that way. Many
duds, but some real wins.

8) Now that you have a sense of what you enjoy, you probably have some names
associated with them, various microgenres. List 'em. For example, "grave
wave."

9) Look up those microgenres on Bandcamp and the like, listen through that
way.

10) Hit "Every Noise at Once" and surf your microgenre that way, too. Bop
around between band and microgenre names.

11) Iterate.

------
rrdharan
This is a pretty good book that should roughly give you what you are looking
for:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rest_Is_Noise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rest_Is_Noise)

~~~
IndySun
A great book for music fans, and probably at least a good read for non fans
like our OP. Recommended.

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boomlinde
A music buff probably listens to music for the enjoyment of doing so and take
active interest in its creation and history, and their "buffness" is a simply
side effect of long-term application of this habit.

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plants
Here's a really comprehensive genre map:
[http://everynoise.com](http://everynoise.com). It's not going to give you the
history of a genre, but wikipedia probably can.

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mushishi
This might be a different kind of route you'll want, but if you want to read
from the source, look up "Songwriters On Songwriting: Revised And Expanded"
which has personal in-depth interviews, including a variety of pop history
stars. I think it puts artist in some kind of historical context and how they
proceed music-making.

Also if you want to check out mostly quite recent popular songs, and some
highlights of the tracks with commentary, see Rick Beato's What Makes this
Song Great playlist.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScRG40_7zb0&list=PLW0NGgv1qn...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScRG40_7zb0&list=PLW0NGgv1qnfzb1klL6Vw9B0aiM7ryfXV_)

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bjornlouser
[https://www.treblezine.com/top-100-best-cover-
songs/](https://www.treblezine.com/top-100-best-cover-songs/)

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sosuke
I had a good time listening to music history books. The Great Courses have
some great ones by Dr. Robert Greenberg such as "Music as a Mirror of
History".

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iamben
There are many "should listen to", or "best albums of XYX" lists out there and
(arguably) finding a pretty generic one (like a middle of the road music
magazine) is probably a pretty good start.

 _However_ \-- I've always listened to a lot of music. I still probably get
through 10 or so new releases a week, a fair amount of older stuff I've never
heard, and a lot of 'comfort' records. The problem with top XYZ lists is you
have to be 'open' to listening to them, and for some records it definitely
helps to have some reference points in the form of 'stuff you know' to frame
why they're significant. It took me years to see the genius in some records
that later become favourites.

Whilst I became much open to exploring genres as I got older, and whilst my
tastes are now far more varied, primarily I still listen to a lot of
alternative/punk and hip-hop. I'll occasionally listen to more electronic
music, but with the rare exception anything too house/techno/etc. just doesn't
work for me as much. I also find when exploring back catalogues it helps to
hear the song over the production - a punk rock record from 1985 probably
sounds like shit - but when you learn to hear the song you see how amazing it
was. Definitely something a younger me struggled with (in a world of over
produced music!).

I guess what I'm saying is _personally_ I feel music is a lot like anything
else. The more you surround yourself with it, the more you 'get' it, the more
genres bleed into one another. And the more you hear, the better frame of
reference you have as to why some of the 'best' records are what they are and
sounds like they do.

TL;DR: Listen to lots and lots, keep exploring. Spotify is an incredible tool.
Pick a genre, listen to what Spotify recommends. See what grabs you. If
nothing does, try another genre. Keep trying until something grabs you. Then
delve into the genre - you'll find pretty soon that genres start to crossover.
Music should be fun.

God I love music.

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nicholast
A fun way to start thinking about the structure of songs is to try your hand
at djing, particularly when mixing two songs together with beat-matching and
whatnot.

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gkeglevich
At a certain point, you realize Bach is all you need.

~~~
BLKNSLVR
And then Frank Zappa fills any remaining gaps.

~~~
082349872349872
Up to and including finnish tango:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trFs_PDqSv4&t=135](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trFs_PDqSv4&t=135)

------
SOLAR_FIELDS
Oddly enough, I really was able to get broad swathes of genres and broaden my
horizons through 4chan’s /mu/ essentials lists:
[https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts](https://4chanmusic.fandom.com/wiki/Essential_Charts)

I didn’t really consider myself a music buff from the listening perspective
until I had worked through several of those. Despite the 4chan moniker, they
are _really_ good genre introductions and have excellent selections.

------
colinmhayes
Listen to the top 100 on RYM. When you find an album you like listen to the
artists other albums and the albums on the genre chart.

------
endori97
idk, but here's Adam Neely explaining lo-fi -- the channel in general might be
of interest:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4KIwA8O9LU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4KIwA8O9LU)

~~~
encom
Adam Neely is fantastic at explaining musical concepts. Good recommendation.

------
jeffnv
I definitely consider myself a music buff. Here's my suggestion: start with
what you love and explore the graph from there.

Consider an album a node in the great graph of music. The links to other nodes
are plentiful and will likely lead to other things you love. Explore other
artists on the same label, other groups composed of members of the group,
other albums recorded in the same studio, etc.

Don't just listen to the music but get interested in the context, just like
any work of art, the significance is often relative to the context in which it
was created. Learn about the history of the members, read reviews, etc.

Learn an instrument, you don't have to be good, but a little knowledge of how
to play some of your favorite music can really help to understand the craft.

Find some of those '500 best albums of all time' type lists and do my graph
exploration for the ones that resonate with you. It's fine to not like
everything but awareness of the really impactful landmark albums will help you
understand the evolution of music. It can be interesting to learn about what
an album is a _rejection_ of as much as it is a homage to.

tldr - bread first explore from what you already like

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deeblering4
Start off with the beatles and branch off forwards and backwards from there, I
guess?

------
arrakeen
start with mid-period beatles, probably sgt. peppers. they are without a doubt
the greatest band of all time and it's my contention that people who say they
don't like them haven't listened to them enough or just don't like music.

if you are interested in harder edge lineage of rock music, then start with
the american beatles-- the velvet underground. the 8 minute version of 'what
goes on' on live 1969 is the single greatest rock recording of all time and
will be studied by scholars for as long as the recordings remain. a good
starting point would be the self titled album or the one with nico

also listen to ALBUMS over and over, not playlists-- in general, that's how
that artists intended for their work to be consumed

~~~
amanaplanacanal
I love the Beatles, but your advice really only applies to the last half of
the 20th century, since albums didn’t exist before that. Before that music was
released as individual pieces or singles.

------
Jabbles
Get a reasonable overview of the different genres at everynoise.com

------
iancmceachern
Listen to NPR's "All songs considered"

------
t0mmyb0y
Simple book rec: This is Your Brain on Music.

------
forgotmypw17
today it's easier than ever.

the key is to put in the listening hours.

how you start doesn't matter much. maybe wikipedia + youtube?

------
jsilence
Listen,...

~~~
jsilence
On a related note: also wondering whether there is a good book about swimming.

------
mhh__
1\. Listen to music

2\. Enjoy said music

3.

------
person_of_color
Read How To Listen To Jazz

------
redis_mlc
> Music has always been the least appealing art form for me out of the music-
> film-literature trio.

Can you share what your diagnosis is?

