Music that I like, of any kind, makes me feel intense and somewhat spiteful. I don’t yell at anyone, usually, but I am more prone to being a jerk afterword, and will say things that I would otherwise keep in my head. The same thing occurs after I play guitar.
I guess it’s silly to ask if this is abnormal (it obviously is), but, is anyone else here like this at all? Does something make you angry in a similar manner?
This really puzzles me, yet I just realized that it is unquestionably true. I love music, and love what I am listening to, but it doesn’t do wonders for my personality.
I’m a jazz fusion fan. I listen to John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Hendrik Meurkens, that kind of stuff. I also like some instrumental rock, like Joe Satriani.
I think what’s happening here is that music is acting as a drug and it is lowering your inhibitions. The same thing happens to me all the time, but I only notice it after I’ve been playing, not listening. It just gives me an elevated ego.
It doesn’t make me angry in particular, though, it just makes me feel more intense. Are you sure that anger is the only elevated emotion going along with the music?
God, no wonder! Listening to that stuff would make me want to smash something too.
That’s easily explained. You know you suck as a guitarist, or you’re just good enough to know that you’ll never be able to lick the heel of Satriani’s boots.
I should have added that I have the deepest respect for those people as musicians, but that kind of jazz is my second least favorite type of jazz, the first being beatnik, doodely jazz. Give me redhot anyday.
The music may cause a rush of adrenaline. But how you react to an adrenaline rush is determined by what you decide it means. Really – if you have an emotional response to anything, you can decide what the meaning of that response is, and, once you decide, then you behave accordingly.
I remember once getting a breakup letter from a girlfriend. It was a shock, and I felt an emotional reaction. When I tried to figure out what it was, I decided I was angry, and acted in anger toward it. Later, I realized it was more likely just plain shock that I interpreted as anger.
There have been experiments showing this: volunteers got a shot of adrenaline, then were put in a room with someone else. If the second person seemed angry, the volunteers got angry; if the second person seems to be having a good time, the volunteers got all silly and elated.
So what could be happening is that the music gets your pulse racing, and you decide that this means you’re angry.
I reckon it affects folks different ways, but affect it does indeed, if you’re paying attention. I’m kind of different. I play rather angsty music, and while I play it, I feel kind of angry, but when I’m done, I feel pretty happy. I think it’s a relief valve for me, personally, though of course everyone’s mileage varies widely.