The music you like and what you are like
On one hand, we’ve got millions of people asking other people “What kind of music do you like?” Like they really care about the answer. On the other hand, you’ve got Dr. Adrian North, from the Heriot Watt University over in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he asks the question, he really does care enough about the answer to pay attention.
CBC is carrying the story (today, at least) about a study his group has just completed, that correlates the type of music a person prefers with their personality. Along the way, he’s destroying a number of stereotypes. Apparently, “headbangers” and CBC Stereo listeners have a lot in common. Who knew?
The complexity of the musical style that classical listeners and metal fans have in common points to deeper parallels in their personalities. I think we can put aside the “volume control set to eleven” as a commonality, though. Anyone who has ever had a seat in the inside row of a symphony orchestra, between the oboe and the lead viola, knows that classical music can be very loud (or annoying, depending on your mindset that evening). The headbanger doesn’t know about piano passages (or the piano, for that matter).
I’m going to have to dig a bit deeper (the CBC coverage was like one of those sample chocolate bars that you find in the flyer sack on Saturdays), and actually read the article, because I do want to know. If you happen to like many styles of music, does it point to multiple personalities? Is Sybil a synonym for an iTunes subscription?
For my part, I’ll be trying to discover if the Moody Blues have some deep(er) significance,
