What d'you think of when you listen to music?

[SparkTEHfuze]

Hello Masses.
So I was sitting in the car the other day and I was listening to music (as people tend to do when in the car) and an interesting thought hit me.
I started thinking about what I think about when I listen to music.
Then I wondered what other people thought about/saw in their heads when they listened to music.
Cause everyone's different, y'know?
So I just thought I'd ask people what they thought of.
Since I'm a dancer, I tend to make up dances in my head when I listen to music.
Sometimes I even make up music videos (which is lame, but it's what I do xD)
So what do you think of when you listen to music...?

 

[Exarius]

If I don't have the music in the background while I'm doing something else (like writing/reading), I tend to think about the drums of the spesific song. I'm a drummer, so I try to hear what and how they play drums, maybe I could learn something from it, or find a really cool drumbeat.

EDIT:

I've always thought that people who play instruments and/or have a decent musical knowledge would be listening largely to the instrument they play, or filter through and focus on what instrument they want to, rather than listening to the piece as a whole.

The bolded parts are what I mean. If I know the song well, I usually listen for the drums/guitar (if the song doesn't have an interesting drum-beat). If the song/band is new to me, I tend to listen to it as a whole, and get a picture how it is, before I listen to the drums/etc.

 

[yond]

I think about the songs lyrics, or whatever i'm doing while listening to the song.

Music is something that i just always have around me.

 

[Objection]

I think about the songs lyrics, or whatever i'm doing while listening to the song.

This basically. Sometimes, if I'm listening to a game's soundtrack for a battle scene, it motivates me, especially if I'm battling on Shoddy or arguing in a thread or chatroom.

 

[Mountain Dewgong]

I've always thought that people who play instruments and/or have a decent musical knowledge would be listening largely to the instrument they play, or filter through and focus on what instrument they want to, rather than listening to the piece as a whole. Generally speaking of course.

It kinda frustrates me when I'm listening to some music with some friends and I'm like "Holy shit dude, this bassline is sweeeet!" And he's like "Whaa? Can't hear it bro"

It seems people who don't play music (or perhaps vocalists) subconsciously listen to the lyrics more, I personally seem to remember the beat, or a specific breakdown/bridge/whatever of a song rather than it's lyrics. Which is all good by me as I'm no singer. :)

 

[SparkTEHfuze]

I've always thought that people who play instruments and/or have a decent musical knowledge would be listening largely to the instrument they play, or filter through and focus on what instrument they want to, rather than listening to the piece as a whole. Generally speaking of course.

That totally makes sense.
As a hip hop/tutting/tap dancer, I try to feel the beats more than listen to the "sweet basslines."
My friends who dig the rock scene are always trying to get me to listen to their music, but I can't seem to appreciate the "sick rock solo's" and such >.>

 

[Altmer]

siqq roqq solo

seriously rock music isn't about solos :(

 

[JimBob]

usually I daydream about being at a concert about three feet away from the stage. Either that or something like in concert DVDs where the camera crew pans around everywhere and zooms in on all the different instruments and stuff. I almost never pay any attention whatsoever to the lyrics, and that probably affects the kinds of music I listen to a lot. ("oh man the lyrics to this song are so deep" yeah whatever I don't care).

I also listen a lot to the drums/bassline, because they usually get ignored in favor of the singer/lead guitarist, but a good bassist/drummer a lot of times blows my mind more than a good singer/guitarist. A good one, not a boring one.

 

[Altmer]

I'm always more of a guitar person...

Personally what I think of depends on the band.

 

[Lockeness]

I think about whatever comes to mind. Some of my best ideas come to me when I am immersed in music. I can just let myself wander and not have to worry about anything. This is perhaps why I have no favourite music style or song it is all good to me.

 

[Vapor Trails]

I try and see how the song is created using the different instruments.
A lot of ttimes I'm trying to guess which instruments are being used.
Also, I think about anything that comes to mind.

 

[Playa]

I only really have music on in the background, so I don't pay attention to the lyrics, only the sound. I guess it helps to change my mood and bring me joy.

 

[Abutorn]

When I listen to music I just think of the Lyrics and what they really mean.

It's the whole point of the song usually I just imagine what's going on in the songs if there were lyrics or somesort.

 

[JimBob]

I'm always more of a guitar person...

Personally what I think of depends on the band.

yeah

but i just find that i listen to the bass/drums in more bands than i listen to guitars, or vocals

 

[Playa]

I still say that lyrics aren't very important when listening to a song, I've honestly never given the lyrics for any song a second thought.

 

[asim]

I've always thought that people who play instruments and/or have a decent musical knowledge would be listening largely to the instrument they play, or filter through and focus on what instrument they want to, rather than listening to the piece as a whole. Generally speaking of course.

i've noticed this as well. i play a few different instruments, but my original is sax, so if I hear a saxophone part in a song, even if it's pretty unimportant, I'll usually hone in on that right away. like i know how difficult it is to be good at said instrument, so i appreciate it more when i hear someone better than me.

I still say that lyrics aren't very important when listening to a song, I've honestly never given the lyrics for any song a second thought.

this is ridiculous. i feel like lyrics can make a song instantly good or instantly bad because they're one of the best ways to portray emotion. now i'm not saying songs without lyrics don't have any emotion, but for looking at an uneducated (musically) audience, lyrics are really important. if you can't appreciate every part of a song, why would you listen to it?

 

[Thorns]

yeah i usually just pay attention to the drums or beat in a song (that's why i listen to mostly rock and electro)
i usually just visualise the band playing the song when i listen to music, or me playing the song

 

[HelloEverybody555]

Not much really, it just sorts of calm me down when I feel pissed off (Assuming the lyrics aren't something violent!) and helps me study for a test because it keeps my right brain occupied.

 

[tup]

It depends on the song really. I don't listen to much except Pink Floyd.

So I'll leave it at that.

 

[Cooky]

Given that I mostly listen to Dark\Dubstep and Drum and Bass I find myself automatically thinking about the drums and the baseline, and judging them on that, eg:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqJkxmzJxBA

End up thinking about the weirdest shit though, daydreaming about superpowers is pretty common for some reason...

 

[Metal Gods]

It depends on the song for me, when I hear Would? by Alice in Chains or Say Hello 2 Heaven by Temple of the Dog I think of Andrew Wood. When I hear songs like Hangar 18 by Megadeth or Painkiller by Judas Priest I just really fuse my mind into the instruments and I commonly use a lot of metal songs for working out.

 

[Vapor Trails]

Added something new: How Chris Henry's family, kids, and fiancee are doing.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/12/17/henry.ap/index.html

 

[SparkTEHfuze]

I still say that lyrics aren't very important when listening to a song, I've honestly never given the lyrics for any song a second thought.

For me, lyrics are a make and break.
I find that when you get the right combo of some sick beats with some sweet lyrics, it's like a 3 course meal of ear candy.
But, if even one ingredient is incorrect... it bombs hard xD

 

[Othfx]

Lyrics are important but the background music must sound cool. o.o

 

[MrIndigo]

I listen to a lot of storytelling songs, so I tend to envision a video clip about the story. Otherwise, I think about people I know that the songs remind me of.