What music influences people?

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In my opinion that entirely depends on the person. I know many people who are greatly inspired/ influenced by classical music where to others it is meaningless. It's a matter of opinion.

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Any kind of music!

This is a completely subjective question. You could ask 100 different people and get 100 different answers. Depends on the person, their personality, their family/friend influences, their IQ, even gender or nationality/geography, or whatever mood they happen to be in on any given day.

Also depends on how you are trying to influence them. Or what you are trying to influence them to do. Will heavy metal make them sleep? Will classical make them want to throw a keg party? Will rap make them cry? Will John Denver make them violent? Will Black Sabbath make them want to pray? Probably no to all of these questions.....but I think you get the point by now.

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People are influenced by the music to which they are exposed. Rather than talk about modern music, I'd like to talk a bit about the state of music almost 200 years ago. In 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born, and from a very young age, his father, Leopold, began instructing him in playing the piano/harpsichord. Once discovering that his son had talent, Leopold made his son practice for hours and hours, sometimes blind-folded. He instructed his son in writing music, and this is the reason why Mozart's music sounds the way it does. Mozart played for the nobility of Europe, and was touted as a child prodigy. His popularity in turn influenced other musicians, and they followed in his footsteps. What's sad is that Mozart died in 1791, just when his music was showing signs of evolving; he was also a 'musician for hire', in a manner of speaking, as he often had issues with money, and would write and sell his music to keep up his lifestyle. Because of this, I feel his music suffered because he wasn't really writing music that he truly loved; he wrote it because he HAD to. Personally, I'm not really a Mozart fan. I feel that he did have some talent, but he's mostly well-known because he wrote hundreds of pieces, was a child prodigy, and died young.

Mozart hasn't had as high an impact on my musical influence as other musicians; as I studied music in University, I was required to study Beethoven. As I did, I began to realize that I felt his music was superior to Mozart's. My reasons: Beethoven was one of the few musicians of his time that DID NOT write his music simply to sell it. He wrote what HE wanted to write. He faced several hardships in his life, such as losing his hearing and never finding his true love (he never married, never had children). Beethoven would have been influenced by other musicians (such as Mozart) in his youth, but as he grew, his music began to change. His symphony No. 3 was said to be a turning point in music, as it sounded like nothing written before. His symphonies were considered the pinnacle of musical achievement, and they overshadowed his contemporaries. Beethoven is also partially credited with the establishment of a different period in musical history. When he was younger, the music that was being written was considered 'classical'. Before his death, the 'romantic' era was established. Keep in mind that these labels, such as 'Baroque', 'Classical' and 'Romantic' were given to music history much later. By looking back at the evolution of music during Beethoven's life, it's clear that there is a definate change. Beethoven's music then influenced countless musicians after him, including me.

I tell my students that the musicians of the past can easily be compared to the musicians of today. They were 'rock stars' in their own right. Any musician, whether they were alive 100 years ago, 500 years ago or earlier, would list SOMEONE as influencing them. It all depends on who they were exposed to. People are a product of their own environment, and that includes their musical tastes.

First answer by ID1147095245. Last edit by Mel26. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 71 [recommend question]