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Tuesday, April 21, 2026

4/21/2026 Posts That Make Me Mad

 Hi again. 

A tweet from user "Amenta_Asylum" which reads: "'Music is subjective' is the most overused excuse.  Taste is subjective, skill isn’t.  Breath control. Structure. Timing. Writing. Delivery. Those are disciplines, you either develop them or not.  Like what you like… just stop pretending everything deserves the same respect."
This tweet made me extremely angry. 

I want to start this by saying that I'm a classical vocal student, which doesn't matter much. But I like to say it.

Every single one of the aspects of skill listed here are subjective. "Structure", "timing", "writing", etc. are all things that vary from genre to genre. "Breath control" is a vague and absurd reference to technique that varies all the time even within the bound of a style of singing. If you do not admit to the subjectivity of your critique, then you are assuming you have the absolute right to categorize everything into a specific genre and then judge it "objectively" using an arbitrary set of criteria that you've applied to said genre.

While one person may say that a singer is "bad" at a certain style of singing, another may say the same singer is bridging genres by mixing styles. That's why even some classical vocal teachers will avoid saying a way of singing "wrong" or "bad" but instead specify what makes it "bad" - maybe it's unsustainable and will make it hard for you to phonate within a few years. Maybe it doesn't align with your goals or the institution you're trying to get into. Whatever.

I know there are more important things in the world to blog about, and I'm not saying critique is bad. I just think this is absurd.