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> Is there a music buff's roadmap, some sort of a chronologically-ordered list of the best and most influential albums that gives a coherent picture of how music evolved over the 20th century? And is that a right approach to becoming a music buff? Probably not, because it doesn't start from where you are. For example, my I happen to like the music of the second Viennese school (well, Schoenberg and Webern; I don't much like Berg's work). My parents both regarded it with confusion. So I sat them down and played a whole series of pieces, first going back from common practice into the Renaissance to get outside common practice tonality, and then forward through Puccini to Stravinsky, each stepwise leading their ears so when we got to Schoenberg's 4th string quartet they could hear it and say, "Alright, I see how this isn't a crazy departure and I kind of hear what's going on." Now, my parents were steeped in Baroque and classical period music, so their starting point is unlikely to help you. Someone else suggested a music appreciation course, which probably is the right way. You need some kind of framework to explore in and enough sampling of the space to be able to get a hint of what you like. If you just want to get started right now, I suggest starting with the Beatles, which are the only artists that I think pretty much every western musician of the 20th century is conversant with, from Baroque music specialists to grunge metal players. |