I earned a PhD in music theory and now teach the subject in college. I wasn't into rock and pop as a young child (through early teens) but have grown to love both in parallel with (but not "because of"!) my classical music training. I suppose I appreciate some details in pop/rock differently for being more consciously aware of how different musical details are related, or for appreciating what's unusual about a certain chord progression -- differently, yes, but I wouldn't say "more" or "less."
A lot of what I listen to IS modern classical stuff -- I go through periods where that's maybe all I listen to. But I'm a composer too and sometimes I can't stand listening to anything that feels to "close" to what I'm writing, so I go through periods where all I listen to is rock or drum and bass or whatever.
I do have a few colleagues who will sit through most of a student's classical recital but get up and leave if the student has added something more nearly "pop" at the end of the program for variety. (They'd all stay for Kurt Weill or Cole Porter, they'd probably stay for a tame Beatles medley -- Beatles have a weird special status that way --, but that's about it. I see this most often in composition students' recitals, if they decide to end with some pop songs they've written, or with some techno experiment they've done in the electronic studios.)
― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 06:37 (twenty-three years ago)