What part does music play in your life?

2 or 3 evenings a week DH and I turn off the television, put on a cd and open a bottle of wine. A great way to relax and communicate!

It's repeated on [I think] Monday night. Funny thing about Duran Duran is that, gorgeous as they all were, I never found them fanciable. 'Save a Prayer' is probably one of my all time favourite songs. I also liked Aha at that time as well. As was mentioned in the programme they were/are a group that weren't taken as serious, musically, as they should have been because they were so darn pretty. Think their 'best of' cd is going to be my 'in car' cd for a while! I also like the way that Simon and Yasmins marriage is so stable and secure; but, then again she's so lovely he'd be an idiot to stray away.

Thanks Tegan. We're going to watch it now. (DD always been a fan) [Asmile]

I can't imagine a life without music. I love all sorts of music but am mostly a 60s and particularly Beatles fan. Saturday mornings I can be found flicking my duster around whilst dancing to George Harrison singing Happy Just to Dance with You and other such ditties.

There was a great documentary about Duran Duran on BBC4 last night; I actually watched it twice. Although I've always liked them there was so much I didn't know about the band [even that they came from Birmingham]. Given that several of them share a family surname, I'm now having fantasies that we're related in some way.

I absolutely love music, especially live music. I love going to my local folk club and other gigs around the country. I follow a Celtic Rock Band and see them at least 8 or 9 times a year, maybe more if they are touring for a few weeks. Music is so so important to me. I sing to the grandchildren (well the babies and toddlers) I used to run a music group at the day centre where I worked. I can't play any instrument but the adults with Learning Disabilities I worked with couldn't care less. We had a great time playing out rhythms on drums and other percussion instruments to music played on a CD player. I remember nearly giving my boss a heart attack when he said that I could order anything I wanted from County Supplies as we were nearing the end of the budget year. I (as a joke) ordered a full drum kit, two trombones and a piano. It all came to over £1,000. He almost sanctioned it before he noticed. Luckily he had a sense of humour.

@goldengirl - I agree with you - but 'Muzak' is actually a trademark name of Muzak Holdings, for a carefully produced bland type of 'broiler' music - to be heard in lifts and even, oh horrors, in lavatories (where I have been known to disable it - such a vandal!). There's a lot of 'background' music of little or no worth, but it's not all Muzak...

@gillybob - "Too much music" - because being everywhere all the time, just turn on the tap, it becomes aural wallpaper. People 'hear', but they can't really be said to 'listen' - and who can blame them...

Marmight I'm sorry I don't know how recent your loss is, but I hope you some day find yourself able to start singing again. Grief does strange things to us and music can tap into those sad feelings in a way nothing else can.

I've played the piano since I was eight and I was in a recorder ensemble for several years until we moved to the south coast in 2012. I have also sung in choirs for a number of years and am currently loving the community choir I sing in every week. I am a second alto and could easily sing tenor. It is hard to always have the harmony to sing rather than the main tune but you do improve with practice.

DGD aged just 13 is the only one of our DGC who has shown any musical ability and she plays the piano, to a pretty high standard, clarinet and guitar. She also has a sweet treble voice.

I love music, particularly the classic variety. I still listen to Radio 3 and Classic FM but find much of it too emotionally draining since J died. I can't bear to listen to the cd's he loved. I have even stopped singing in the Choral Union I have been with for nearly 30 years as it is just too much. Strange what a devastating effect music has on our emotions . I haven't been to a Church service either for the same reason. Hopefully, one day, I will manage to get past this 'blockage'.

I love music. I used to play the violin when I was at school. I love singing and until we moved away I was a member of the Carlisle Choral Society. I drive DH mad as I have classic fm on for most of the day. Unfortunately he is tone deaf and can't carry a tune. Why isn't Gilbert and Sullivan aired more widely? I was introduced to comic opera be my father when I was about 10 yrs. old and have been a fan ever since.

The sounds that assail me in shops drive me mad to the extent that if they're loud out I go and they lose the possibility of a sale. That isn't music it's 'Muzak' - I think that the term for the cacophony

I think it was part of the charm though Anya I played my favourite 45's over and over again (my poor parents must have been tearing their hair out) and got so used to the various jumps and scratches that they almost became part of the song. Donny Osmond's Puppy Love was a particular favourite of mine.

Yes, thankfully music is more freely available these days and better quality of reproduction. Who remembers suffering the old 78s with their scratches and jumps or trying to listen to the 'wireless', moving the aerial around to try to minimise the static? I was reminded watching Downton on Sunday. The only way to bear good quality music was to go to a concert.

Although there can be a fair amount of plagiarism, most of it is unwitting. One of my friends actually manages to make a living as a composer - rare in these times. She often sends me clips and asks worriedly 'does this sound familiar?'.

goldengirl yes, it is really hard sometimes. I used to be a sop and now am a first alto. At first, if I was tired I would 'lapse'. But it's only the really well-known stuff that throws me now, and fortunately - or unfortunately - most of the things we do aren't all that well-known.

I think there's a lot of music these days because of utube, Spotify etc which means that you don't have to get 'discovered' before everyone can hear your music. What never ceases to amaze me is that, given how few notes there are how many variations have been/will be created.

How can you say there is "too much music" feetlebaum?

I' afraid I can't agree with you. Music is a matter of taste and everyone's is different. It doesn't mean that it's necessarily good or bad. I love to go to live concerts too but it's not always possible is it?

I was a musician for over twenty years... after which I went straight!
Since then I have listened less and less - but to better and better. The older I get, the more I can be affected emotionally by great music and great performance - don't let me listen to anything wonderful without a box of.
tissues at hand...

There is too much music. It is omnipresent, and so it is not valued as it should be - and being honest (for a change?) most of it is mere noise - sans harmony, sans melody, sans - everything.
If I am going to listen to something I want it to be an event, not a constant stream of drivel.

I enjoy a variety of music and have played a number of instruments - none particularly well because I didn't like practising! It all depends on my mood really. I used to sing a lot at school which was fun and keep thinking I might join a community choir but from being a high soprano I'm now an alto and don't think I could manage sticking to the harmony rather than the main then if you see what I mean . I enjoy helping GS with his piano practice - he's just started learning and he's doing well. GD is learning the drums!!!

When we were on holiday a coach driver told us how Otis Redding had written Dock of the Bay at Sausalito and had died soon after recording it. Strangely enough there was a documentary about him on BBC4 two nights ago; not a great fan of that kind of music but have always loved that song [hadn't realised he was only 26 when he died, either ]. Currently have the new Alt J playing on a loop.

I love Queen, too. Everything except Rap, really.

Queen are my absolute favourites too henetha they have something for every mood.

I also love Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, The Zac Brown Band, Boz Scaggs, Johnny Cash and many many more.

I have Playlists on my iPad for most occasions/moods. I've three new songs to learn for Rock Choir; Viva la Vida, Fall at Your Feet and Time after Time and I'm just absorbing them while making a beaded curtain.

Imagine life without music! It's the background to our life, isn't it.
It fills my house, and my car, all the time. Any kind of music except some jazz.
At the moment I'm hooked on Bryan Adams and the latest Charles Aznavour album. But my overwhelming favourite is Queen.