Learning to appreciate art and music

My sister used to make my Dad furious by playing Rolling Stones LPs at max. volume. He said it wasn't music, just a noise. I bet his father told him the same, when he listened to Benny Goodman on the radio.
What I'm driving at, is each generation seems to have it's own type of music which is often a form of rebellion against the older generation and their old fashioned ways. Personally I've never been keen on following the masses and had three heroes when I was young - Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Lester Young.
When I found myself yelling at my sons to turn the sound down on their rap music, I had a flash back to my dad. Then I said to myself "Whoa there!" and decided to try and be open minded. Well, time has passed and now I have the pleasure of listening to my granddaughter Gianna learning to play violin. What I like about her, is if she hears music, whether it's pop, classic or jazz, she has no prejudice at all. Likewise art galleries. I can hear my dad saying "What's that supposed to be?" when I look at pictures by my favourite painters. But if I try seeing things through the eyes of a child, I get far more pleasure.
George Crumb was the first composer of minimalism that I heard, this was soon followed by a performance of Steve Reichs music and others like Terry Riley and Michael Nymen came along after that. I've since even grown fond of Steve Reichs music and Arvo Pärt too. But the strange thing is, this all happened to me with virtually no musical training! Unless you can count Be Bop. Like my granddaughter Gianna, I just listen and if I like it - Fine! But if I don't like it, that's fine too but I just pass on. So simple, but it works for me.