Music and Your Misconceptions (about me) Chris Byrnes

Ok, so I'm sure many of you know that I love classical music. I used to always talk about it and a friend and I currently co-curate a classical music fanpage on Instagram (close to 8,000 followers, by the way). Now, I'm not here to tell you that this is the only genre of music or only type of real music.  That's simply not true and I'm not one of those people. I respect your opinion on music. In fact, it's not the only genre I listen to. I love film music like Hans Zimmer and John Williams. Oh, and I also like jazz music and really any type of instrumental music. Now, you're probably thinking, "Chris, this is all instrumental music." Yes, yes, yes. However, I do listen to some music with lyrics. For example, the Les Miserables soundtrack and La La Land, Phantom of the Opera, Frank Sinatra, and others, and, heck, even Dollerie (no link due to bad words).

I'm sure you can tell by now that I love music and a lot of types too. So, let's further break down my thoughts on the music I listen to and why they're important to me:

Music, in general, is basically a part of me. It's been apart of my younger childhood, difficult times, and other times in life. Music has and always will be in my life. Why, though? For one, I concentrate better with music. It makes things less informal for me and makes my environment more comfortable. Even during tests, I prefer music to be on, in the background. In other words, I eat, breathe, sleep music. 

• Classical Music: The genre that many of you don't listen to or really, the one that you haven't tried listening to or the one you haven't been really been exposed to. I've been fortunate to have people in my life that exposed enough classical music and helped me get into it (and helped me realized how nostalgic it can be). I think the same can happen too with all of you all. Don't be afraid to try it. I bet there are some pieces you'll like. The beauty of classical music is that there are different styles. You see, with pop music, usually, only one chord is used over and over again a song. Not in classical music. Oh, and by styles, I mean the eras: Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic, Romantic, Modern (includes Impressionistic, etc..). Now, that's kinda the most popular composers of each era. However, there's SO MUCH MORE than them. The possibilities are endless. Classical music has hundreds of years of music and you can listen to it with a touch of your finger. That's why I love it. I encourage you to broaden your musical horizons as I've done these past couples of years. If you choose not to, very well then. I respect your choice. If you do choose to, here are some of my favorite pieces (they're not like ranked and this list isn't anywhere near complete):
• Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2
• Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
• Holst - The Planets: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
• Faure - Elegie in C Minor, Op. 24
• Khachaturian - Violin Concerto in D Minor
• Sibelius - Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
• Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
• Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23
• Tchaikovsky - Romeo and Juliet Overture
• Piazolla - Oblivion
• Offenbach - Les Larmes de Jacqueline (Jacqueline's Tears) Op.76 No.2 
• Dvorak - Zigeunermelodien, Op. 55: IV. Als die alte Mutter mich noch lehrte singen
• Dvorak - Silent Woods
• Dvorak - Symphony No 9 "New World"
• Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor op.104
• Dvorak - Humoresque No. 7
• Ogden - Cavatina
• Puccini - O Mio Babbino Caro 
• Beethoven - Violin Sonata No.5, Op24: Spring
• Elgar - Enigma Variations: "Nimrod"
• Elgar - Salut D'Amour, Op. 12
• Barber - Adagio for Strings
• Shostakovich - Waltz No. 2

This list could go on forever, but you get the point. Again, just broaden your horizons. Okay, moving on from classical music (sorry that this section was really long).

• Film & Instrumental Music: Now, film music and such are probably more popular among you guys than classical music. Let's be honest, film music can get lit. I mean look at Hans Zimmer (link above) and John Williams. Epic, dramatic, emotional film scores are what I love. I love climaxes with strings. It makes me feel like I can do anything in the world. It makes me feel confident. It makes me feel unstoppable. There are some instrumental music and film music that have sad melodies. After listening to many pieces, I've found that the sad ones are usually the most-catchy and most-memorable. Film and instrumental music can be epic and dramatic yet also sorrowful and emotional. Some days I need the extra-confidence boost and on other days, I need to calm down and reflect. You know, I'd say film and instrumental music has a chance of bumping classical music off the throne for my favorite genre. That's how much I love it. I highly recommend listening to this type of music if you ever need some emotions triggered. I assure you, that certain ones will be triggered. It all depends on the piece. Here's a list of some of my favorite pieces (again, not ranked and nowhere near finished):
• Hans Zimmer - Inception
• Hans Zimmer - Interstellar 
• Hans Zimmer - The Dark Night
• Hans Zimmer -  The Thin Red Line
• Hans Zimmer - Injection 
• Hans Zimmer - Lost But Won
• Hans Zimmer - Now We Are Free (Gladiator)
• Alexandre Desplat - The Imitation Game Main Theme
• Thomas Bergersen - Skyworld
• Thomas Bergersen - El Dorado
• John Williams - Duel of the Fates
• John Williams - Hedwig's Theme
• John Williams - Harry's Wondrous World
• John Williams - Imperial March
• John Williams - Schindler's List
• Tracey Chattaway - Nightsky
• Nights Amore and Arn Andersson - Farewell Light
• David Edward - Dreamer
• Rolf Løvland - Song from a Secret Garden
• EDIT: Kobe Bryant Tribute Song - "Dear Basketball" (by John Williams)
• I wanted to add this piece that I just recently found. It's REALLY beautiful and it makes me miss Kobe even more (RIP KOBE). His own daughter at age 13 died. too. 13! This makes me think about how precious life is. How much I love life. Please listen to this song. In fact, just put it on loop cause your life, all of it, will always be precious.

Another big list that could go on forever. I promise, I'll try to make the others shorter. I highly recommend this type of music. Now, let's get jazzy, shall we?

• Jazz Music: I find jazz music to be very calming. It helps me focus on homework and it's catchy too. I encourage you to listen to jazz if you ever need to calm down or want to relax. It's that type of music. Some pieces of interesting and odd, but others are really really good. Don't back away if you're not finding stuff right away. Keep searching. Here's a soundtrack (from above) that has jazz music:
• New York Jazz Lounge - Bar Jazz Classics
• There are other soundtracks on youtube too. I encourage you to listen to other ones too!

• Vocal Music (Lyrics): Welcome to the most popular type of music. The music that you all listen to every day whether it'd be on the radio, T.V., phone, computer, etc... Most of you probably think I hate it. In all honesty,  it's not that bad - although, I'm truly not a fan of rap. Pop music isn't that bad. I find myself liking music found in musicals more than you're everyday type of vocal music. I don't why. I guess it's because I like musicals. I always find the music to be catchy. If you hear me humming a song/piece, you know I love it. I love humming. It makes me feel more comfortable and puts me in a good mood (most of the time). For me, humming is a good sign. Again, here's a list of some songs (not ranked, not complete)
• Les Miserables
•  La La Land
• Phantom of the Opera
• The Greatest Showman
• Frank Sinatra
• Dear Evan Hansen - Waving through a Window
• Dollerie - Limelight (no link due to bad words)
• Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
• Frank Sinatra
• Bruno Mars - Grenade
• Collabro - Come What May
• Collabro - With You
• Collabro - All of Me
• Collabro - Falling Slowly
• Collabro - Over the Rainbow
• Collabro - Anthem
• Collabro - A Thousand Years
• National Anthem of the Soviet Union  (I'm not a communist, lol. You gotta admit, the music isn't bad. Put aside politics and all of that)

You probably get the point, by now. I love music. I use it for a lot of things. I like multi-use things. Multi-use things are important to me. I'm glad I used this time to demonstrate how music is highly important to me while also clearing up misconceptions. Sorry that this blog post is long. Thanks for reading and staying on my post this long!