Quoting Ray Bayles <[log in to unmask]>:

 [ Art song difficulties ]

>Perhaps you are younger...  If so, that is good, as you have music to
>understand in different, perhaps more important ways as you age.
>
>My viewpoints and my understandings of music have changed considerably
>since I turned 50, then 60...  ...

I am in my early 40s and this has been an issue with me for quite some
time.  I think it has gotten worse over the thirty or so years I've been
listening and studying classical music.  I like folksong quite a bit.
I've tried opera, lieder, and choral music a number of different ways -
live, recordings with and without score, and so forth and it hasn't
clicked.  This isn't just restricted to western classical forms.  I have
a similarly difficult time with Carnatic vocal music although I can
listen to instrumental pieces without difficulty.  Great topic, though.
I don't think I've ever heard the question asked before Jeff Dunn brought
it up.

Best regards,

Ravi Narasimhan
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