I want to get into classical music because I noticed whenever

The top albums on RYM or that stuff on /classical/ I guess. I did it like that.

When you hear "classical" you probably just hear pop music with strings.

If you want real classical - go pick something and listen to it. You won't grasp 99% of what's going on. Doesn't matter, because that is fixed mainly through (re)listening and your own mental effort. If you really don't enjoy a highly-regarded piece after multiple listens, try a different recording. There are many ways to perform a piece and none of them is really "correct" (some can be technically inferior, but your enjoyment is always on the first place).
There is no really correct way to start, just pick some diverse stuff and go with it. I personally enjoyed Beethoven's 14th sonata and Vivaldi's Four Seasons during the "early stages".
Read a bit about the piece you are listening to, the form, maybe get a book like Aaron Copland's "What to listen for in music".
I also recommend going to concerts if they aren't too expensive. In a hall you are forced to listen to the music without any distractions, and I noticed that it improved my listening habits, made me listen "deeper". It's fine if you don't already know the piece you're listening to there, if you are used to the conventions and rules of classical you can listen and enjoy it with no problem anyway.

>>71565547
RYM loves modern classical because it makes them look smart, but it really is better to be familiar with "classic" classical first to understand the modern experiments and styles.
/classical/ MEGA folders aren't very good either. They shouldn't be your primary source for music downloads.

Unless you have an ear and a brain for complex harmonies (Baroque), I'd recommend starting with the classical era, it was the most beginner-friendly to me:
http://www.classical.net/music/rep/lists/class.php

I've found this site to be a good resource for finding the more important works and their best recordings. I'd recommend starting with pieces from Mozart, Beethoven, or Haydn. Find which genre/composition you like (string quartet, symphony, opera, etc.) and then listen to other composers' works in that category.

>>71565547
I would avoid the RYM classical, the amount of collective knowledge about classical music on RYM is very small.

>>71567005
This anon has good advice.

I got into classical by listening to Beethoven's Wig Sing Along Symphonies.

I was 7

i got into classical when i was a kid listening to saint-saens' carnival of the animals, though i don't know how an adult would like it

What are the 'classical songs' you have already heard that you liked? Often they are small parts or larger works so tracking them down will allow you to hear them in context. Classical is divided by the forms the works come in: symphonies, concertos, operas, ballets, sonatas etc. If you find you like symphonies go looking for other symphonies etc.

Really easy mode starting point: Erik Satie's Gymnopedies

More of what people usually suggest starting with: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 and No. 21

What I personally started off with and really helped me expand how I digest music: Bach's Art Of Fugue (it's very helpful that you look up what a fugue is and how this piece progresses before/or while listening to it)

Also gonna second the suggestion to go check out local stuff. For example if you go to college, your music school probably has everything from recitals you can go to whenever to actual performers showing up there.

>>71565428
My advice would be to try the easiest listening artist of each big era -roughly-. If you like it go for more.

e.g.
>late baroque: Vivaldi, then go for Bach and Haendel, etc
>classical: Mozart, then go for Haydn, first Beethoven.
>early romanticism: mid period Beethoven, then Schubert, etc
>Piano romanticism: Chopin, then Schumman, etc
>Orchestral romanticism: Brahms, then Mendelsohn
>Late romanticism: Wagner, then R. Strauss, Mahler, etc
>Impressionism: Debussy, then Ravel, etc
>early XXc: Stravisnsy, then Schoenberg, etc
and so on