# Do you think MBTI type affects music preference?



## Pleeb (Jan 13, 2015)

> In my personal experience, I like music to be both pretty and meaningful.





> I've also noticed that I have a harder time focusing on the music itself and rather the thoughts and emotions it provokes. In essence, I can't spend forever thinking "oo, this melody is so beautiful" because my brain itself is not attuned to the senses.


ok, we're definitely on the same page. 

speaking of which, I wonder how Ne-doms perceive music as opposed to INxJs.

EDIT: oh, and regarding lyrics, it depends. For some artists (ie, the Bob Dylans and Jeff Mangums of the world), it feels like an integral part of their work. For others, they function as more of a means to an end for delivering vocals. In popular music, lyrics and sound are meant to be analyzed together. Whenever given, I typically use lyrics as a guide or a crutch in navigating the music (eg, the narrator's reference to childhood in line 3 is complimented by the use of double tracked acoustic guitar and singing saw; the warbling frequencies and ghostly reverb symbolize a nostalgic longing). 

Finally, if one separates the lyrics from the music, one typically ends up with two different, but inferior forms of art: a poem and an instrumental. If one wants to listen to instrumental music or read a poem, there are plenty to examine; however, if the artist bothered to add lyrics to his music or instruments to his words, we should assume he did so for a reason.


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## dwelfusius (Feb 16, 2015)

OliversTwisted94 said:


> Listening to music- for me personally- is an immersion. It's like being cast into a scene in your mind's eye, where the lyrics are visible and rhythms are palpable. I can lose myself in the music, and see these stories that the lyrics are trying to weave. It's really potent and addictive almost. /QUOTE]
> 
> This,I see the music,if that makes sense.I love multilayered complex music like good metal, old-school goa, proper melodic dnb OR back to basics singer-songs with only a guitar or piano but exquisitely played, or classical music ofcourse Bach or stuff like paganini, I can dig baroque but not all, but I so love me some pure trumpet and clavecin. or swing,blues,jazz.And eurodance from the 90's (though that might be nostalgia talking). Complex rythmics and well crafted melodies.
> I'm an intp (probably)


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## I_destroyedtheuniverse (Jul 24, 2014)

I like classical - especially romantic. 
I like Arctic Monkeys- I think my favourite album of theirs is Humbug. I'm not sure, I like all their music from before 2012 and I think that counts as alternative rock and indie mainly... 
My taste is eclectic, really, I don't think I have a favourite genre. 

INTJ. 

Oh, also I think I tend to listen to instruments more than music in a song. I just love the musical patterns and the way the music comes together. Or just listening to one single instrument. It just makes me feel all warm inside. I do still listen to lyrics of course. Electric counterpoint (minimalism) is just perfect because when you listen to the single patterns in the song, it sounds simple but when all the repeating patterns play together, it sounds so complex and entrancing. 
I know another INTJ that prefers to listen to the lyrics in a song, though. 
I'll shut up now.


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## Nathaniel_Near (May 3, 2012)

Seems a thread.

I like all music apart from most country & western, and even then I can dig a few tunes. However, I don't have much expertise at all with jazz and I don't tend to like the more soppy romantic type of songs, although I quite like the dramatic songs one finds in musicals or animated movies such as the Walt Disney movies.

Thinking about the genres I listen to most, I suppose it would go as follows:

Electronica (instrumental - Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Jon Hopkins)
Classical (classical, baroque, post-minimal, minimal, modern, renaissance and not typically spectral, neo-complexity, romantic unless it's Beethoven, who many argue embodies more the classical school anyway)
Rock (particularly punk and metal genres with post-rock artists such as Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros)
Filmic/media (Hans Zimmer has written some great stuff - and some crap)
Dance (typically house and funk)
Rap (Nas, Hail Mary Mallon, Ice Cube, Rza, Gza ...)
Pop (A vast amount spanning typically from the '70s-present)

Favourite current artists:

Grimes
John Adams
Thomas Ades
Tangerine Dream
Arvo P*ä*rt
James MacMillan
Jethro Tull
J.S.Bach
The Offspring
Hans Zimmer


I don't have a favourite really.

Hmm, I guess I tend to listen to the music and its synthesis over say individual parts or lyrics. I tend to memorise lyrics slower than a lot of other music listeners.

INTP


I think a lot of INTP's get lost in the sound and atmospheres of quite ambient music without much immediacy. I think type can influence the sort of artist one might gravitate toward. For example, an awful lot of XNFP's love Grimes and artists who are typically highly individualistic, such as Fiona Apple or Bjork.


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## lemoncake (Apr 13, 2015)

I'm an incurable omnivore when it comes to music. In my iTunes library I've got everything from Beethoven to Taylor Swift, to the Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon, to The Click Five. I can tolerate just about everything except for punk rock and heavy metal. I think this is because my music ties into my emotions, since I am after all an INFP 

One of the things that matters to me a lot when it comes to more modern music is whether I can relate to the artist. For example, I don't usually listen to a lot of pop, but I really like Taylor Swift's personality and so I started liking her music. However, I've never been able to get into Adele even though her music is more "my style" than Taylor Swift. Also, the music needs to fit my mood: for example, if I'm bored I like to listen to fun upbeat music that tells a story, like Christina Grimmie's "The One I Crave". And nothing beats Sia for a background when I'm reading angst. 

Otherwise, I loooooove the Phantom of the Opera because it has emotional connotations for me. I watched it for the first time when I was eight, and it just brings back _so_ many good memories for me. Other musicals, such as Les Mis, fade and die out, but I've loved Phantom ever since I saw it for the first time and will continue loving it.

I also like music that my friends like, or that people I respect like. My dad's a huge classical music fan, so I had Beethoven on in the background a lot. And I'm a vocal student, so I listen to arias from operas or just in general. My current obsessions are "Vittoria Mio Core" and the Queen of the Night's aria from The Magic Flute, also "Un Bel Di" from Madame Butterfly.


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## LlamadeusMozart (Nov 25, 2015)

This is an interesting thread. I can really relate to observations about how N's tend to see the "big picture" of musical connection, and S's tend toward the pure aesthetic. This makes sense to me, both as a listener and teacher of music. Some of my students come at music from a purely sensory point of view, and my big picture focus on connections and big patterns sometimes confuses and confounds them. I have to carefully adapt my teaching for these students.

I would assume on some level that INFJ's, INTP's and maybe INTJ's would be more interested in classical music than others for the same reason we gravitate toward "classic" and authentic things. (We are notorious lovers of antiques after all.) 

As an N who is a classically trained pianist, I tend to see and hear music as a set of interconnecting patterns. Pop, country, and rock get very formulaic and dull very quickly. Music with novel rhythms and melodies are much more enjoyable to me, even if these novelties aren't always beautiful.


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## Aulredigon (Jun 19, 2015)

Sure! INTPs would prefer the complex dubstep genre
while INTJs would prefer the metaphorical rap genre


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## cipherpixy (Jul 9, 2015)

I don't think so. ISTP here and personally I prefer Heavy Metal! I enjoy other genres too but I'm more grounded to Heavy Metal, my roots. 
Here's a link you might find interesting that shows "matching" Myers Briggs type and musical genres:
Myers Briggs (MBTI) Types As Musical Genres


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## LarryL (Apr 2, 2015)

Hip-hop/Rap is definitely my favorite. Kanye West favorite artist of all time. GOOD STUFF!
Love all his stuff ranging from the melodical, soundgood-feelgood & chill Late Registration, the I-AM-A-GOD Yeezus to the hype-up-style Graduation.

Also, the lyrics and flow and voice are dope.


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## cipherpixy (Jul 9, 2015)

Queen of Mars said:


> I'm starting to conclude that the _type _of music is not what personality affects, but rather personality affects how one _experiences_ the music.


You nailed that one, right there! :wink:


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