Have you ever wanted to learn about classical music without first having to absorb all the theory or wade through lots of tedious music? Well, your most effective introduction to classical music may be the intensely passionate and highly tuneful music of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky. AMG's Blair Sanderson explains why this great Russian composer might be your ideal guide.

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More proof that it's a Taylor Swift world and we just live in it came with Sunday night's American Music Awards show, where Swift won five prizes. These included artist of the year, which had been expected to go to Michael Jackson. Swift also won favorite female artist in the pop/rock and country categories and favorite adult contemporary artist; her album Fearless was named favorite country album. While Jackson lost artist of the year to Swift, the King of Pop did win favorite male artist in the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories, and his 2003 greatest hits album Number Ones took the favorite album award for pop/rock and soul/R&B. Other winners included the Black Eyed Peas, who scored the favorite group award in pop/rock and soul/R&B, and Green Day, who were named favorite alternative artist. Jay-Z won favorite male artist and favorite album in the rap/hip-hop categories, and Beyonce was named favorite soul/R&B female artist. Multiple nominees Kings of Leon, Eminem, and Lady Gaga all went home empty-handed. [Billboard.com]

The AMA show's live performances were also newsworthy, especially Adam Lambert's controversial rendition of "For Your Entertainment." Lambert closed the night with a performance that included kissing his male keyboardist and simulated oral sex from a male backup dancer. Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, Green Day, and Eminem were among the night's other performers. [RollingStone.com]

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Sure, it was only three years ago, but we are still crazy about 2006's debuts (Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, Burial), breakouts (Amy Winehouse, Gnarls Barkley), bold makeovers (Christina Aguilera), and early farewells (J Dilla), not to mention the less eventful but nonetheless excellent releases from the established veterans (Ghostface Killah, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth). Over a couple hundred favorite albums and singles of 2006 are listed by our editors. Maybe you'll discover, or be reminded of, a few that you missed. The AllMusic Loves series will continue to roll through this first decade of the 2000s during the next few weeks, as we will revisit 2007 and 2008 prior to looking back at 2009.

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