What IS Sexy?

I'm on social media and the Web quite a bit. And it always surprises me what women think men think is sexy.

Here's a quick tip: the vast majority of you have it wrong!

So I thought that I would put together a list, of sorts, of things that I find sexy. Some are physical attributes (not as many as you'd assume), some are personality traits, and some are manners.

Here we go......

• Women to are fit and actually HAVE curves. Sexy (See: Marilyn Monroe)
• TRULY confident women. Sexy (not that fake bullshit that most of you ladies espouse)
• Gratitude. Sexy
• A woman who is physically attractive but keeps her business covered up. Sexy (We can go to any strip club in America and see all the naked nasty chicks we want)
• Intelligence. Sexy
• Open-mindedness. Sexy
• Active listening. Very sexy (Most people have no idea what I'm talking about here)
• Motherhood. Sexy
• Tattoos. Sexy (When properly placed)
• Women wearing a man's oxford shirt. Sexy
• Women who eat something more than salad on occasion. Sexy
• Manners. Sexy (Ex: saying "thank you" when your man pulls your chair out for you. He's not required to do that shit.)
• People who aren't afraid to try something new. Sexy
• Fatherhood. Sexy
• Yoga pants on the RIGHT body type. Sexy (Put these things on the wrong body type and we have an entirely different discussion)
• Vulnerability. Sexy

Why You Need Professionals

If THIS is your idea of music programming, please call the professionals at South Central A/V

If your conference room doesn't look like this once it's completed, then you need to call the professionals AT South Central A/V

If your sound system looks like this because you tried to save a buck and have your cousin Bubba take a crack at the installation, you seriously need professional help from South Central A/V

If you have no earthly idea what these are, you need the assistance of professionals at South Central A/V

Just because you know how to operate an iPod doesn't mean that the music selection is right for your business.

If you have a boom box in your business to entertain your customers, you're doing it wrong!

If your music source is the same for your car and your office space, you need the professionals at South Central A/V

If your business space has THIS as your music source, you need the professionals at South Central A/V

Got Drums?

Lester Estelle, Jr. (Pillar)

Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Chris Coma (Black Veil Brides) Crazy double kick!

Morgan Rose (Sevendust)

Tony Royster, Jr. (Jay Z)

John Fred Young (Black Stone Cherry)

Steve Jordan

Carter Beauford ( Dave Matthews Band)

Steve Smith (formerly of Journey)

Kenny Aronoff

What's Your Tune?

Music and its effects on human behavior have been studied for some years now. From playing Bach for an unborn child in the hopes that it be brighter, (which has since been debunked) to the effects of music in the workplace and how productivity increases as a result.

But personally, one of the most interesting areas of music psychology for me is the study of how your musical selections play a part in determining your personality.

Now, please keep in mind that the following are very general and broad brush strokes and you will very likely not fit every description listed. And although I play a psychologist on TV, I'm not attempting to "diagnose" you in any way. I'm just having some fun with it. I hope that you will as well.

So here we go......

Research conducted by psychologists Sam Renfrow of Cambridge University, and Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin give some insight to the link between what we like musically, and our personalities.

Jazz: The people who typically enjoy jazz are creative, complex, and more extroverted, with higher than average intelligence.

Pop: These listeners are conventional, extroverted, and hard-working. They are generally honest in nature, and have high self-esteem. (Just know that as you listen to Justin Beiber, your losing IQ points by the second)

Rap/Hip Hop: Going against the stereotype of aggressive behavior, the people that prefer the genre are typically outgoing and have a high level of self-esteem.

Country: Hard-working, conventional, and (amazingly) emotionally stable; since it seems that most country songs center on heartbreak and "who 'dun shot my dawg". (I'm from Tennessee, I can make jokes!)

Rock/Heavy Metal: This is my genre of choice, mainly because I play the drums and I utterly enjoy those drummers who stand out from the rest of the band. According to the research, Metal Heads are quite gentle, somewhat creative, and often introverted. Hmmmmmm.

Indie: The "obscure" bands that aren't part of "the norm" typifies this genre. Those who seek after the holy grail of obscure, non-top-40 tunes are intellectual and creative. They also tend to be passive, and hard-working.

Dance: House music, dub-step et.al. Assertive and outgoing. Get out of their way when the party gets going!

Classical: Introverted, at ease with themselves, and good sense of self-esteem.

So there you have it, in a nutshell. Which category so you fall into?

For more on this topic, check out www.psychologytoday.com

Grey Matter & Music

So I have been doing some research for this blog and the sheer volume of material written on the topic of music and it's psychological link to humanity is staggering.
It will definitely require a "free" weekend of study to consume just a portion of it all.

But I did come across a very interesting article regarding how we have come to process music and why we love the type of music that we do.

The article, written by Farhad Manjoo, is based on the book, This Is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel Levitin. (The book has been downloaded by your truly and will be consumed this weekend)
But I wanted to hit the high points of the article that I found extremely interesting, and I think you might as well.

Now we all have "our music". Whether it's old school rap, hair band metal (me), classic rock, British rock et. al. When we hear a particular song we are instantly taken back to a point in time that is memorable for us. Maybe it was the high school prom; maybe it was the song on the radio when you had your first date. The possibilities are endless. But there's a reason why we are so connected to that music, it's far more complex than simply stating, "I like this band."
Levitin, a neuroscientist, explains how our brains process audible information, "Imagine that you stretch a pillow case tightly across the open end of a bucket, and different people throw ping pong balls at it front different distances. Each person can throw as many ping pong balls as she likes, and as often as she likes. Your job is to figure out - just by looking at how the pillow case moves up and down - how many people are there, who they are, and whether they are walking toward you, walking away from you, or are standing still. This is analogous to what the auditory system has to contend with in making identifications of auditory objects in the world, using only the movement of the eardrum as a guide."

He also makes another conclusion from his research; that the music we listen to during our cognitively formative years (pre-teen and teen) is the music that will stick with us forever. There's a reason you call it, "your parents' music".
These years, by and large, are very emotional times, hormones running rampant and all. We tend to remember the music of this time because. "we tend to remember things....because our amygdala and neurotransmitters act in concert to 'tag' memories as something important."
So please, please, choose your music carefully young people! You're going to have it in your head for a very long time! (Remember Milli Vanilli?)

I will ask forgiveness from the music gods for this video at a later time....

Music is now, and always will be a part of humanity. There has never been a human culture that was without music of some sort. Let that sink in....

I hope that this hasn't been too much a flashback of your days in anatomy & physiology, but rather, my hope is that you will better understand the importance of music in our world.

Why Music?

Music is far more than MP3s or CDs (yes, some of us still listen to CDs).

Music is a large part of all our lives whether we realize it or not. Music motivates, inspires, relaxes, encourages, makes us dance, and give us an overall feeling of "good".

Adele, Elvis, Rage Against The Machine, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, George Strait, Keith Urban, Jay Z, Mumford & Sons....the list goes on and on. Whatever your favorite track, tune or genre, music is what gets you up in the morning, picks up up in the afternoon, and puts you to sleep at night.

It's literally inescapable......

This blog is dedicated to music; all forms of music. Some that I thoroughly enjoy, others that I dislike immensely. We will look into the psychology of music, music in the workplace, how music affects us throughout the day without us even comprehending it, and just have some fun with it!

If you have any ideas or thoughts, please share them here.

Let's explore this world of music......