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Well clearly, I don't really intend everyone who has an interest in music to throw themselves at books and start studying like a machine. I was just simply saying, taste has no place when it comes to education. Even if you are an amateur, hobby composer, or just like music altogether. Research never hurts, looking at things with more depth never hurts.
Don't like the sound of something? Why is that? Have other people liked/not like that sound? What did they say were their reasons? Where did those sounds first appear? Is there some physical property in them that makes them unlikable? Is tradition/culture conditioning a part of not liking it?
Unless those questions (and many more) are answered, or at least an attempt has been made, it's really doubtful that a genuinely honest and informed opinion can be had in regards for taste. You can always elaborate on what you like, or don't like, and it makes you a better composer/musician/artist for it. But, to have the proper means to elaborate on things you don't like, you actually need to look at them with more depth. Think about it more. Give it more time to sink in, and see what exactly is what you don't like, see if it repeats itself elsewhere, see if others had the same reactions and why, so on and so forth.
It's not necessarily EASY, it's not SIMPLE, it's not something you do in a week or a month even. But it's damn important and it's a healthy attitude to have.
You can also simply shrug it off saying that "Well, it's too much work for just a hobby" and sure enough it may as well be depending on your interest. But I'm also addressing people which may find what I'm saying useful, not people who don't care either way. I'm not going to convince anyone to dedicate their lives to music and study hard or any of that nonsense. That's up to them.
But the right attitude is going to help both the part-time composer and the professional actually improve as artists, and that's what I'm talking about the whole time when I talk about education. It's not just memorizing facts and knowing a lot of things, it's just the attitude to learn, investigate, research and look at things with an eye for details rather than simply dismissing what one doesn't like without having the slightest clue about all the "why"s and "how"s beyond the simple rejection.
So really, it's all in the interest of helping people do what they want to do as well as possible. If they don't want to do that, that's fine. People have a right to be mediocre just as much as to have mediocre opinions. Doesn't mean I have to do the same, or let it pass unnoticed.
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