by Gerry Baird

Created on: January 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 12, 2009

Are you a closet classical music lover? Do you mentally run through the opening theme of Beethoven's 5th whilepretending to listen to Puff Daddy or Avril Lavigne? Do you quickly switch your MP3 player from Bach's St. Matthew Passion to Nickelback when someone asks you what you're listening to? No? Well, then you are missing out my friend. Here are a few tips for becoming a classical music lover without losing your social status or your lunch.

When you hear the term "classical music," what immediately comes to mind? High-brow symphony performances attended by people whose idea of a good time is starching their shirts? Music so boring you can't fathom how anyone managed to stay awake before the creation of rock & roll? 200-year-old wig wearing Germans with nothing better to do than write music that all sounds the same?Yes, there is a certain stigma associated with classical music that can be hard for the modern listener to get past, but a rich reward awaits those who are not afraid to make the attempt.
While some classical music can be a bit slow and long-winded, there are a lot of lively works too. Take, for example, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," which features a nice, quiet, easy like Sunday morning percussion section consisting of cannons. That's right, I said cannons. When was the last time you heard Dr. Dre with a rhythm section like that? Then there are pieces like Flight of the Bumblebee, which features a tempo so fast it makes the Energizer Bunny on Espresso look like a three-toed sloth. Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastique" is a veritable roller coaster ride that features, according to the composer's program notes, an opium dream and a beheading. How about the first performance Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," which caused a riot when it was premiered in 1913? These pieces, along with patriotic standards like "Stars and Stripes Forever" and just plain fun songs likeKhachaturian's "Sabre Dance" prove that classical music doesn't have to be boring.

Sometimes it may feel to the modern listener like classical music was written by ancient composers who pre-dated the dinosaurs. Yes, much music in this style was written by people who thought "cool" referred to temperature and "rap" was something you did with a door knocker. But classical music is still being written today, and it is listened to by millions of people in those modern concert halls we call movie theaters. What would movies like "Pirates of theCaribbean," "Braveheart," "Last of the Mohicans," "Glory,"

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