27 replies to this topic

[Quadra]

LONDON (AFP) - Teenagers who lock themselves in their bedrooms to blast out heavy metal music may simply be trying to cope with the pressures of being gifted, according to research reported Wednesday.

The study said that teenagers often work off the stresses and strains of being a bright outsider by listening to bands such as System Of A Down, Slipknot and Tool.

Researchers questioned more than 1,000 members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth, whose members rank among the brightest five percent of youngsters in Britain.

"There is a perception of gifted and talented students as being into classical music and spending a lot of time reading. "I think that is an inaccurate stereotype," Stuart Cadwallader, a University of Warwick psychologist who is presenting the findings to the British Psychological Society Wednesday, told the Daily Telegraph.

"They feel more stressed out and turn to heavy metal as a way of relieving that stress." Cadwallader added that heavy metal fans often appreciate the "complex and sometimes political themes" of the music. "It has a tendency to worry adults a bit but I think it's just a cathartic thing," he said.



Many of heavy metal's biggest stars are closet geeks -- Brian May, guitarist with Queen, is currently finishing a doctorate in astrophysics, while Iron Maiden star Bruce Dickinson is a history graduate, international fencer and qualified commercial pilot.

Well this throws years of stereotypes against those who enjoy heavy metal out the window. Maybe I should join the new itellectuals and pick up the latest system of a down album.

[Black Flame]

That's odd. I get really good grades but cannot stand heavy metal. Maybe it's just me

[Waser Lave]

I was 'gifted and talented' (apparently), and I like music like System of a Down, I think it's more of a coincidence though. In my opinion, intellectual people tend to prefer intellectual music which has (more often than not) a political message whereas people who aren't as intellectual (stupid people) prefer types such as trance which is just basically noise.

Edited by Laser Wave, 21 March 2007 - 11:32 AM.

[Nick]

I listen to all kinds of music. Other people screaming means I don't have to.

[Silk]

whereas people who aren't as intellectual (stupid people) prefer types such as trance which is just basically noise.

Oh, bullshit. I love both trance and metal. SOAD and Slipknot both suck, but I like Relient K, Opiate for the Masses, and similar bands. Personally, I find trance a much better 'soother'.

[Waser Lave]

Oh, bullshit. I love both trance and metal. SOAD and Slipknot both suck, but I like Relient K, Opiate for the Masses, and similar bands. Personally, I find trance a much better 'soother'.

But this research is about gifted teenagers Zulfi.

Edited by Laser Wave, 21 March 2007 - 12:10 PM.

[Silk]

But this research is about gifted teenagers Zulfi.

Says the 'gifted and talented' uni student who couldn't do a 15 year olds coursework?

[Charmender]

Well i listen to hardcore, trance, dance, anything and rock and metal and deathmetal so im all good

Also anyone who listens to SOAD is a noob and hasnt heard of real heavy metal

[Waser Lave]

Says the 'gifted and talented' uni student who couldn't do a 15 year olds coursework?

Says a 15 year old who couldn't do a 15 year old's coursework even when he'd actually learned how to do it.

I know as much about nuclear fission as I do about your coursework.

[Silk]

Says a 15 year old who couldn't do a 15 year old's coursework even when he'd actually learned how to do it.

I know as much about nuclear fission as I do about your coursework.

Learned how to do it? Trust me man, my lame teacher forced me to have to learn it in my own time. Oh well, got there in the end.

Anyways, besides the point. Trance owns j00.

[Kimoflea]

Lol.. SOAD is much better for the gym than relaxing to..

[Aetas]

That's odd. I get really good grades but cannot stand heavy metal. Maybe it's just me

Same. It's too....LOUD.

[SiLeNTScReAM]

Like the article indicates, many people can't listen to the sort of music that is 'out of the box', or outside of the normal convensions of a normal song structure.
Slipknot, System of a Down, and Tool greatly defy the normal laws of tradition when it comes to writing music, so I guess it would take someone with more of an open mind to listen to them, and people with open minds tend to be sort of intillectual.

[philywilly]

Don't agree too much with this article.. it sounds more like a coincidence to me.. besides, it's obviously not heavy metal that's going to make you brighter.

In my case, I'm an average student and I listen to generally rock, and to be more precise, emo, post-alternative, screamo, hardcore, techno, and some metal... oh and some rap too.. so my taste is pretty varied... but in all, it's mostly hardcore and well.. I can easily say that I have more trouble concentrating while listening to music with lyrics and a heavy beat, whereas when I'll listen to classic I'll be much more concentrated on what I'm doing.. or I just won't be distracted.

[SiLeNTScReAM]

Don't agree too much with this article.. it sounds more like a coincidence to me.. besides, it's obviously not heavy metal that's going to make you brighter.

In my case, I'm an average student and I listen to generally rock, and to be more precise, emo, post-alternative, screamo, hardcore, techno, and some metal... oh and some rap too.. so my taste is pretty varied... but in all, it's mostly hardcore and well.. I can easily say that I have more trouble concentrating while listening to music with lyrics and a heavy beat, whereas when I'll listen to classic I'll be much more concentrated on what I'm doing.. or I just won't be distracted.

I don't see it as saying that heavy metal will make you smarter, I think what it means is that bands that who are well taught into music theory ( can play in multiple time signatures, defy the boundaries of the normal song structure ) are well picked up by more intelligent listeners, because they could Identify the difference, and learn to appreciate it.

[Ender]

Lol, not sure why they're giving Brian May up as an example when they're talking about heavy metal.. pretty interesting article though.

[Stephen]

...
Tool is Heavy Metal?

[redlion]

Like the article indicates, many people can't listen to the sort of music that is 'out of the box', or outside of the normal convensions of a normal song structure.
Slipknot, System of a Down, and Tool [greatly defy the normal laws of tradition when it comes to writing music,so I guess it would take someone with more of an open mind to listen to them, and people with open minds tend to be sort of intillectual.

Err, come again? To qualify your statement, the emboldened section would have to be changed to: " SK, SOaD, and Tool follow the pop-req forms to make music, which is why they're played on the radio, so I guess it would take someone that listens to the radio to listen to them, and that might include intellectuals at one point or another."

If you want some music that strays from the norm in terms of musical theory, check out The Mars Volta. Those guys take music to the edge.

As for me, I can't stand heavy metal. About as heavy as I get is Chevelle, and even then, I'm not a big fan. Most of today's heavy metal is just screaming shit while banging on instruments, and the few exceptions to that rule (e.g. Slipknot) aren't half bad players, but they distort their sound to ridiculous extremes and end up sounding like idiots.

[Kail]

Im suposed to be "intellectual and gifted" and i listen to bands like Rise against and Megadeth..like alot have said i thinks its more a coincendence cos how can loud "banging" noises help at all?

[SiLeNTScReAM]

Err, come again? To qualify your statement, the emboldened section would have to be changed to: " SK, SOaD, and Tool follow the pop-req forms to make music, which is why they're played on the radio, so I guess it would take someone that listens to the radio to listen to them, and that might include intellectuals at one point or another."

If you want some music that strays from the norm in terms of musical theory, check out The Mars Volta. Those guys take music to the edge.

As for me, I can't stand heavy metal. About as heavy as I get is Chevelle, and even then, I'm not a big fan. Most of today's heavy metal is just screaming shit while banging on instruments, and the few exceptions to that rule (e.g. Slipknot) aren't half bad players, but they distort their sound to ridiculous extremes and end up sounding like idiots.

Assuming that you have VERY minor knowledge on the Theory of music, you won't seem to understand what I am saying.

basically what I am saying is, those bands ARE Talented and gifted, THEY DON'T ALL PLAY IN A STEADY 4/4 time frame, Take for example, Messhuggah, they all play in Radical time signatures 15/16, 7/8, 12/32

You don't know the ideaoligy behind my statement, so don't try to turn this into a damn flame fest against those bands.

and I am NOT a Heavy metal fan exclusivly, I listen to every genra under the walks of the sun.... Listen to Dillenger Escape Plan.

Edited by SiLeNTScReAM, 01 April 2007 - 04:14 PM.

[redlion]

Assuming that you have VERY minor knowledge on the Theory of music, you won't seem to understand what I am saying.

basically what I am saying is, those bands ARE Talented and gifted, THEY DON'T ALL PLAY IN A STEADY 4/4 time frame, Take for example, Messhuggah, they all play in Radical time signatures 15/16, 7/8, 12/32

You don't know the ideaoligy behind my statement, so don't try to turn this into a damn flame fest against those bands.

and I am NOT a Heavy metal fan exclusivly, I listen to every genra under the walks of the sun.... Listen to Dillenger Escape Plan.

Ok, I hate to be a prick, but I've got to be for this post.

First of all, learn to spell ideology, exclusively, and genre. Now that we've got the erroneous part out of the way, on to music theory!

First, we must establish that there is no credible link between intelligence and the creativity, complexity, or harmony of a band/song, nor does it mean that an intelligent person can compose or write music. Saying that someone is intelligent simply because they use odd time signatures is nonsensical and a misuse of logic.

Second, we can see that with the technology available today, its fairly easy for anyone to upload a song to Sibelius or Cubase, change some stuff around, and print out sheet music thats in 15/16 time signature.

Third, we should take a look at classical music for a second. This is more of an aside, but nevertheless, its been proven time and time again that children turn out more intelligent the more they're played classical music as a child. Perhaps we should pay more attention to those kinds of studies than what random teenagers like?

Fourth, time signatures aren't everything. A lot of fairly basic pop songs make use of more advanced rhythmic techniques such as hemiola. So even if the only qualifier for creativity and outstanding composition were to be how outrageous your time signature is, many other songs besides Meshuggah's qualify as giftedly composed.

Fifth (part a), let us examine Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis written in the 1500s, which is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and well composed pieces of music of all time. For those of you that aren't aware, its a 40 piece motet written in 4/2. To quote Professor Carpenter, "I have a lot more respect for somebody who can write a piece for 40 voices on individual parts writing in a more common time signature to produce something beautiful and original, than a band who can be pretentious and write in a ridiculous time signature and... ultimately sound little different from many other[s]." I regard her views as not only more accurate than your views, but more accurate than my own. Perhaps we should take into account amount of effort that it takes for a man to write parts for 40 voices with absolutely NONE of the technology that we have today, and then look at how easy it is for joe blow (or jane blow) or even Meshuggah, to use a computer program to create music.

Fifth (part b), let us examine further, the classical music. Baroque period, Corelli's Trio Sonata in D, in 6/8 time throughout but with a hemiola in the middle to add interest. Classical period, Beethoven's Septet in E flat, 3/4 time throughout. Romantic period, Brahms' Piano Quintet in F minor, 3rd movement, is written in 6/8 with some 2/4 phrases. 20th Century, Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, 4/4, 6/8, 2/4. These people weren't just 'talented and gifted', they were geniuses. When Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah can write for an entire symphony, let me know.

Part the sixth, heavy metal is a genre largely targeted and listened to by teens. Shock and awe that included some people of intelligence, regardless of what type of music it was in the first place. I'm sure a university could find just as many intelligent people that are calmed by emo/hardcore/indie/j-rock/etc, etc, as they can find for heavy metal.

Oh, and one last thing. The poster child of your entire theory, Mesahuggah? Yeah, you misspelled that as well.

Edited by redlion, 01 April 2007 - 05:14 PM.

[Warlord]

Music transcends IQ, any genre can be enjoyed/hated by any person regardless of how smart they are.

[SiLeNTScReAM]

..

Ok, I hate to be a prick, but I've got to be for this post.

First of all, learn to spell ideology, exclusively, and genre. Now that we've got the erroneous part out of the way, on to music theory!

First, we must establish that there is no credible link between intelligence and the creativity, complexity, or harmony of a band/song, nor does it mean that an intelligent person can compose or write music. Saying that someone is intelligent simply because they use odd time signatures is nonsensical and a misuse of logic.

Second, we can see that with the technology available today, its fairly easy for anyone to upload a song to Sibelius or Cubase, change some stuff around, and print out sheet music thats in 15/16 time signature.

Third, we should take a look at classical music for a second. This is more of an aside, but nevertheless, its been proven time and time again that children turn out more intelligent the more they're played classical music as a child. Perhaps we should pay more attention to those kinds of studies than what random teenagers like?

Fourth, time signatures aren't everything. A lot of fairly basic pop songs make use of more advanced rhythmic techniques such as hemiola. So even if the only qualifier for creativity and outstanding composition were to be how outrageous your time signature is, many other songs besides Meshuggah's qualify as giftedly composed.

Fifth (part a), let us examine Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis written in the 1500s, which is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and well composed pieces of music of all time. For those of you that aren't aware, its a 40 piece motet written in 4/2. To quote Professor Carpenter, "I have a lot more respect for somebody who can write a piece for 40 voices on individual parts writing in a more common time signature to produce something beautiful and original, than a band who can be pretentious and write in a ridiculous time signature and... ultimately sound little different from many other[s]." I regard her views as not only more accurate than your views, but more accurate than my own. Perhaps we should take into account amount of effort that it takes for a man to write parts for 40 voices with absolutely NONE of the technology that we have today, and then look at how easy it is for joe blow (or jane blow) or even Meshuggah, to use a computer program to create music.

Fifth (part b), let us examine further, the classical music. Baroque period, Corelli's Trio Sonata in D, in 6/8 time throughout but with a hemiola in the middle to add interest. Classical period, Beethoven's Septet in E flat, 3/4 time throughout. Romantic period, Brahms' Piano Quintet in F minor, 3rd movement, is written in 6/8 with some 2/4 phrases. 20th Century, Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, 4/4, 6/8, 2/4. These people weren't just 'talented and gifted', they were geniuses. When Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah can write for an entire symphony, let me know.

Part the sixth, heavy metal is a genre largely targeted and listened to by teens. Shock and awe that included some people of intelligence, regardless of what type of music it was in the first place. I'm sure a university could find just as many intelligent people that are calmed by emo/hardcore/indie/j-rock/etc, etc, as they can find for heavy metal.

Oh, and one last thing. The poster child of your entire theory, Mesahuggah? Yeah, you misspelled that as well.

You seem to be the one saying that the "Poster child of my entire theory is Meshuggah", when I clearly stated that no-where.

Thank you for pointing out exactly the reason I left Neocodex in the first place.
Fucking prick.

Edited by SiLeNTScReAM, 02 April 2007 - 06:11 PM.

[Eeyore]

Yah. Sucks to be owned .

Anyways, this research thing is rubbish . The so-called bright teens aren't that bright, I was asked to be one of them . Never got around to filling in the paperwork *cough*. Plus, so what that a few of them listen to heavy metal, it's a fashionable thing to listen to at the moment, I'm sure it can be proven that Indie is good for bright teens in the same way

[SiLeNTScReAM]

Yah. Sucks to be owned .

Anyways, this research thing is rubbish . The so-called bright teens aren't that bright, I was asked to be one of them . Never got around to filling in the paperwork *cough*. Plus, so what that a few of them listen to heavy metal, it's a fashionable thing to listen to at the moment, I'm sure it can be proven that Indie is good for bright teens in the same way

what the fuck?

What happened to the old Codex... fuck you guys.