How Many Times Do You Have To Listen To Understand A Piece Of Music?

Tried out Nine Inch Nails yesterday.  Felt like I was being screamed at by an alien being.  Went through 10 tracks at about 12 seconds each, that was plenty for the rest of my life.

No I don't get it.

Regards,

barts

@fatdaddy2 Your comment on Springsteen made me laugh out loud.
@onhwy61 Depends. Some music grabs me immediately and all I want is more of the album, and the artist. Others take a few more listens, or just being in the right mood. Sometimes learning something about the artist’s life is enough for a second listen. I was once ready to chuck a disk as unintelligible garbage until I looked up the bio of the artist, one Chet Baker. I was intrigued, and gave it a second listen, I ‘understood’ it much better the second time around and treasure it now. But not when I want to dance. 🙂

Note: I had purchased a rather large collection of assorted CDs and was trying to pare them down to size. I have quite a stack of ‘Punk’ CD’s you can have for free. I tried every track on them to make sure they played, but not more than two seconds on any of them. I don’t like being screamed at. But I can remember, days in my adolescence when I might have been screaming right along with some bands in the 60’s, just not this stuff.

AC DC about a minute

Chopin ... days

RUSH ... eternity 

@wolf_garcia

I don’t think you have to objectively "understand" a piece of music to absolutely enjoy it right away, from complex jazz or classical to a simple tune.

+1

@tony1954

If I don’t want to listen to the entire song, then it has almost zero chance of getting a second chance.

 

+1

@michaellent

it is not meant to be understood by you. It has meaning to the artist. Not necessarily to you

Granted, art must first please the artist. It can stop there or, by incorporating the universal within the personal, can reach/touch many more people. Depends upon your intent. art vs Art. 

I think understanding is different than appreciating.  I can think of simple songs I understood first listen but have grown to appreciate over time.  My appreciation can wax or wane as I grow, mature and change. I often need to understand before I can appreciate…recently I was listening to a classical piece I didn’t relate to until it dawned on me it was written in 7/8.  Then it clicked.  Interestingly, I pointed the time signature out to my wife, who shrugged and smiled…she had no clue what meter the piece was in but enjoyed it immensely.