What determines people's taste in music?

什么决定了人的音乐品味？

来自哥伦比亚大学音乐理论本科主任Mariusz Kozak的回答：

OUR PREFERENCE FOR THIS OR THAT KIND OF MUSIC IS obviously a deeply subjective¹ matter. It can also be highly unstable², changing not only during a lifetime, but even on a scale of months, or even days. Yet despite such variety, there are three factors that I think are the main contributors.

我们对这种或那种音乐的偏好显然是很主观的一件事，变数也很大，不仅在人的一生中会发生变化，甚至在几个月、几天内都会发生变化。然而尽管有这些变数，我认为有三个因素主要决定了我们的音乐品味。

The first is our upbringing, or the musical background which surrounded us in our formative years.

首先就是我们的教养，或我们性格形成期周围的音乐背景。

The kinds of music that we were exposed to as infants and toddlers helped to create very specific mental patterns—schemata—of the most typical melodic³, harmonic, and rhythmic⁴ progressions.

我们婴幼儿时期所接触的音乐类型帮助我们形成了非常特殊的心理模式——图示，它是最典型的有旋律的、协调的、有节奏的过程。

These schemata serve to create expectations when we listen to music, and, as it turns out, we tend to experience greatest pleasure when those expectations are met.

听音乐时图示使我们有期待，结果就是这些期待得到满足时我们会感受到最大的快乐。

However, even the most stable musical schemata can be overridden⁵ by socio-cultural concerns, and these constitute the second contribution to our musical preferences.

然而，甚至最稳定的音乐模式也会被社会文化改变，这就二次形成了我们的音乐偏好。

Music, likely from the very beginning of the existence of modern humans, has been used to bring people together in various kinds of activities, because it is really efficient at regulating bodily and emotional responses of large groups of participants.

可能从现代人类存在开始音乐就被用来把人们聚集到各种活动中，因为音乐真的能很有效的调控一大群参与者身体与精神的反应。

Thus, it has served to create a sense of belonging, of group cohesion⁶, of inclusion. The same mechanism⁷ applies today, where music brings listeners together in different activities.

因此，音乐被用来创造归属感、群体凝聚力和被包容的感觉，这一技巧现在也适用，音乐把听众聚在不同活动中。

Whether you’re into heavy metal, or hip hop⁸, or jazz, your preferences are guided in part by your desire to be a member of some social circle.

无论你是喜欢重金属、嘻哈还是爵士乐，你的喜好中有一部分是受你想融入某个社会群体的愿望所驱使的。

These two factors seem to paint a rather mechanical picture of musical preferences, but this is obviously not the case.

以上两个因素看起来对你的音乐偏好有着无意识的影响，但显然并非如此。

Nothing is likely to be more important than our own subjective feeling at the time of listening, and this is something that draws on a very complex and irreducible network of biological and cultural influences.

听音乐时好像没有什么比我们的主观感觉更重要的了，这涉及到非常复杂又不受制约的生物学和文化的网状影响。

Especially today, with nearly unlimited⁹ access to all genres¹⁰ and styles of music, we use music as a tool for regulating or maintaining our emotions, and our moods.

尤其是现在，我们几乎不受任何限制，能接触到所有音乐流派和风格，我们把音乐作为一种管理或维持情绪和心情的工具。

This is why when you want to study you might reach for something unobtrusive, without words. Or when you’re trying to relax before bed you’ll probably listen to something calm. All of these point to the fantastic flexibility¹¹ of music in our lives.

这就是为什么在你想学习时会选择不耗费精力的没有歌词的音乐，或者睡前想要放松时会听安静的音乐。

But deep down it’s all about what the music does to you, how it affects you emotionally, bodily and cognitively¹².

这都是因为我们生活中能对音乐灵活选择，但归根结底是看音乐对你做了什么，它是如何影响你的情绪、身体和认知的。