by Katie Brown

Created on: February 02, 2009   Last Updated: February 12, 2009

"You May Not Like It, but you'll Learn to Appreciate It!"

Let me begin by saying this; I absolutely loathe the word "appreciation," as it applies to music or, for that matter, any art form. The phrase "music appreciation" implies that unless you are wealthy or you came out of the womb playing a violin, you will never actually like listening to classical music. However, with rigorous (tortuous) academic study, just maybe an average Joe/ Josephine, such as your self, can begin to understand its importance enough to "appreciate it." After all, classical music is much like black coffee- it's an "acquired" taste. We wonder why classical music is dying and here, ladies and gentlemen, is one reason.

I promise you that the above premise is simply not true, and as the only classical musician in my average, middle-class family full of Joes and Josephines, I am living proof. Through my past seventeen years of musical studies (I began playing the clarinet in my fifth-grade public school band and I am now twenty-eight) I have completely and totally fallen in love with classical music. Through years of concerts and recitals, my parents have come to not only "appreciate" classical music - they have come to truly enjoy it! I find my mom's car radio tuned to the classical station every now and then, or I catch my dad listening to it while he's working. Classical music isn't just for the wealthy and folks with lots of letters after their names; classical music is for everyone.

Maybe you've heard this "classical music is for everyone" sentiment before. You went to your first classical music concert and it was OK, but you found your mind wandering a lot as you tried to convince yourself that you were having a great time. Or, maybe you went out and bought your first classical music CD, but you have yet to get through the whole thing. Here is a secret; my mind wanders in concerts quite frequently. Here is another secret; I have lots of classical music CDs in my library that I have yet to finish listening to.

"Oooooh Girl, Beethoven's 5th Symphony is my JAM!" (Not So Much)

Actually, I probably should have picked a different work than Beethoven's 5th Symphony. I guarantee you that you know how the opening of this piece goes because it is VERY popular. You've heard it in cartoons, commercials, and even a disco version in the movie "Saturday Night Fever!" While some classical music seems to be used over and over (and over) again in pop references, we don't hear enough classical music in

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