Some months earlier I joined my neighbor's band which plays grunge covers. And since that time I noticed that the way I listen to music has changed, because I'm paying closer attention to the arrangements so I can pick out the guitar parts better. I've played piano before, so I could already pick out chords, but playing electric guitar (obviously very common in music), and actually having to study those parts for the band, made me pay attention to stuff like strumming patterns, use of pedals, use of overdubs. And because I'm thinking about what music I would like to cover with the band, when my turn would come to suggest cover songs, I'm approaching songs from a perspective of whether we could play it ourselves, or whether we could substitute different parts and so on. And so basically you end up listening to music as more of a combination of different instruments, instead of just focusing on the vocal line and the general sound.

Maybe it also helped me develop a more positive attitude towards music I'm not inclined to listen to. I had to study some songs by bands that I would usually dismiss, like the Foo Fighters. Their song "Breakout" for instance, which I'm practicing now. It has a slightly tricky guitar part, some different sections, some reasonable development and variations, an increase in intensity, all approached very logically. So it's not just some guy screaming over a few primitive chords, it's actually very well thought out structurally, even if I still don't like it.

To be honest it's even intimidating to me, to realize that most popular music has serious effort put into it in terms of arrangement, development, production. The music I've written myself is just some chords and basic melody, and while I like it, I feel like actually getting it recorded as a proper song which could in any way compete with professional music, even bad professional music, is just light years off.

Anyway, I wanted to ask: have you ever been in a band? Even if you've never played an instrument, something like playing bass guitar in a cover band is pretty accessible. I'm more obsessed with music than at any point in my life, so for me it basically increased my enjoyment.