Discerning good music from bad can be a hassle. Especially if one does not know what to listen for or does know what to listen for and the discernment seems arbitrary to them. There are two overall ways to determine the value of a piece of music. Those methods are subjective reasoning and objective reasoning.
Objectively, a piece of music or any art is considered good when technical attributes are analyzed. A technicality is classified as an objective skill that can be ranked among others practicing the same skill, in a numerical way. This can mean the skill and talent of a guitar player who has perfected their craft. This can also mean the appreciation of a good mix done by a producer with a well-trained ear who has mastered all aspects of a given track. Whatever the technicality is, it determines the objective goodness. But still, objective goodness is hard to determine without exploring other unobjectively measurable characteristics. This is especially true if one does not have the means to analyze the technicalities in question (for example, knowledge of music theory). This issue brings focus to subjective reasoning.
Jimi Hendrix (right) is speculated to be the greatest guitar player of all time. His unusual playing style of using his left hand to strum a right-handed guitar that was upside down is very difficult to do well and can be considered an objective trait that makes his music good.
Subjectively, anything can be considered good or bad. This is why people have favourite colours. While one may prefer the colour blue, someone else might prefer the colour red, despite these two entities not having any inherent difference when it comes to their value. This is also true in music. While an A minor chord might sound more pleasing to one person, someone else might prefer an E major. This is a very simple/specific example, but the concept spans all aspects of music including chord progressions, scales, timbre, and much more. But why do people have subjective preferences for these characteristics? This question can be addressed by the notion of emotional resonance.
Subjective reasoning, while relying less on logic and critical thinking than objective reasoning, is not completely random. There are reasons why subjective preferences differ among individuals and these reasons are psychological. Whether an individual prefers classical music or heavy metal, in theory, a psychologist could be able to break down this preference based on genetic and/or experiential predispositions that lead these individuals to subconsciously prefer one genre over another. This also explains why two opposing arguments for political opinions can be completely valid objectively, while only one can be subjectively correct depending on various psychological parameters.
Emotional resonance (which is probably the most common cause of a subjective preference when it comes to music) can affect a person’s predisposition of what they are listening to. The best way to illustrate this is with the example of nostalgia. Someone hearing a song for the first time would have less inclination to have an emotional experience with it than someone who heard it years ago and has an emotional memory (or memories) associated with it. Listening to music is an emotional experience. Therefore, the emotional resonance that arises from listening to a song is a key factor in one’s subjective opinion of it.
Subjectivity and emotional resonance pretty much open the door for all music to be considered good music. It would not be subjectively wrong for someone to say that white noise resonates more with them than anything else, making it their favourite song. This means that subjective reasoning alone is not the ideal method to determine something as good (although it is a valid method). Objective reasoning alone is also not ideal (again, it is still valid) because it neglects the account of emotional resonance among individuals (which is important because music is an emotional experience). The best way to fill in the gaps that each of these methods leave wide open is to combine both methods: Allowing oneself to be emotionally moved by a piece of music, while simultaneously criticizing and evaluating the technicalities that piece it together. With this in mind, you can appreciate the music you listen to, to its full capacity.
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Sources
10 Legendary Left-Handed Guitarists. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/10-Legendary-Left-Handed-Guitarists
Copland, A. (2011). What to listen for in music. Penguin Putnam.
Vente, A. (2010, March 25). Jimi Hendrix in Hoepla [Jimi Hendrix performs for Dutch television show Hoepla in 1967. Performance in Studio Vitus, Bussum]. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jimi_Hendrix_in_Hoepla.png