Improving music/keyboard skills... what to do

[tapper mike]

There are really only two "feelings" pain and joy. Everything else is learned fear, anger, hate etc are all things we learn as a means to react to the situation we are in.

Style is a characteristic that we find reflects something of ourselves or something we hope to see in ourselves. It's a means of finding our "identity" If you feel you are souless or self loathing you'll seek out a style of music that reflects those characteristics. If you find redemption in intellectualizing then you will find a form that can support your intellectual ego and so forth.

Honestly some people are not musicians and no matter how hard they try to be they will never be musicians. And for them I'll say this. Find your muse elsewhere. Being a musician will not complete you as a person. There are plenty of forms of self expression to involve yourself with.

Quite frankly If you are so self conscious about not playing the wrong note you shouldn't be playing music at all. Fear of making a mistake is driving you from the one thing you should be doing and that is playing, Practicing, developing technique.
I'll be honest there were alot of times I struggled with techique. But I kept strong to it. I didn't let it get me down. I'd slow the metronome down and I'd work through the exercises day after day and over time I developed fluidity and fluency with my instrument. So many are looking for the lost chord that will make it all better and I'm here to tell ya it doesn't work like that. You'll never be able to swim if your afraid of the water no matter how much advice you seek out or how much your read about swimming.

If you find you have no abilities whatsoever after a few months give up and move on rather then punish yourself. If you have some abilities focus on strengthening and expanding them. Commit yourself emotionally to your music. If you aren't putting your emotion into what you are doing you won't get any back.

Some people are greatly gifted and still they have to work at it. Some people are gifted with dedication and are willing to go the extra mile to compensate.
And some people have no gift for it and as much as they may love the music they have no place creating it. Better for the last part to simply appreciate the form for what it is and follow their muse elsewhere.

I'm a big fan of art but I have no skills as an artist. I could spend the rest of my days trying to study it and I'd still suck. However I can appreciate the art for what it is without being an artist per-say.

[ShadowsofBirds]

I'm going to second what someone else said - learn as you write, write as you learn.

My experience is that you don't just suddenly know how to play an instrument - you spend you're life learning, and you use your skills as you develop them.

[daExpert]

Honestly some people are not musicians and no matter how hard they try to be they will never be musicians. And for them I'll say this. Find your muse elsewhere. Being a musician will not complete you as a person. There are plenty of forms of self expression to involve yourself with.

I completely disagree. If you can put your finger on a keyboard you are a musician. If you can play a few notes in a row you are a musician. If it sounds beautiful/horrible you are a musician.

You don't have to play sophisticated classical compositions and abstract jazz pieces to be a musician.

[tapper mike]

So any animal that comes in contact with a musical instrument is a musician by your definition. Does that apply to inanimate natural conditions like wind and rain? My air conditioner is very old and makes a humming noise if humming is a form of music does that make my air conditioner a musician?

[Sendy]

Honestly some people are not musicians and no matter how hard they try to be they will never be musicians. And for them I'll say this. Find your muse elsewhere. Being a musician will not complete you as a person. There are plenty of forms of self expression to involve yourself with.

I completely disagree. If you can put your finger on a keyboard you are a musician. If you can play a few notes in a row you are a musician. If it sounds beautiful/horrible you are a musician.

You don't have to play sophisticated classical compositions and abstract jazz pieces to be a musician.

The world is full of advice such as "you can do anything if you put your mind to it" and "anything you put in you'll get back doublefold". Well I love mathematics, I have a good mind for the concepts behind a lot of maths theory, but I just suck at maths, the actual numbers. I tried hard to be a mathematician but it just wasn't in me. Try harder they say, but people are cruel. You have to accept that in order to do "x" you have to have some capacity to be "x-minded".

The upshot is that the world of maths has kept it's magic, it's mysterious, I'm interested in it, but can only really participate in reading books for lay people. The good thing is I can use this mystery to inspire the things I *am* good at.

[daExpert]

So any animal that comes in contact with a musical instrument is a musician by your definition. Does that apply to inanimate natural conditions like wind and rain? My air conditioner is very old and makes a humming noise if humming is a form of music does that make my air conditioner a musician?

A human being is much more than an animal, wind, rain, or an air-conditioner. Good grief.

[daExpert]

Honestly some people are not musicians and no matter how hard they try to be they will never be musicians. And for them I'll say this. Find your muse elsewhere. Being a musician will not complete you as a person. There are plenty of forms of self expression to involve yourself with.

I completely disagree. If you can put your finger on a keyboard you are a musician. If you can play a few notes in a row you are a musician. If it sounds beautiful/horrible you are a musician.

You don't have to play sophisticated classical compositions and abstract jazz pieces to be a musician.

The world is full of advice such as "you can do anything if you put your mind to it" and "anything you put in you'll get back doublefold". Well I love mathematics, I have a good mind for the concepts behind a lot of maths theory, but I just suck at maths, the actual numbers. I tried hard to be a mathematician but it just wasn't in me. Try harder they say, but people are cruel. You have to accept that in order to do "x" you have to have some capacity to be "x-minded".

The upshot is that the world of maths has kept it's magic, it's mysterious, I'm interested in it, but can only really participate in reading books for lay people. The good thing is I can use this mystery to inspire the things I *am* good at.

But to say, "some people are not musicians and will NEVER be." is f**king ridiculous.

[tapper mike]

I've got a brother. He's a quadriplegic with serious brain damage he can barely hold his own head up. Hasn't gotten any better in 25 years of physical therapy and surgery after surgery. He's only barely cognizant of his environment. The head trauma he suffered caused severe short term memory loss. He can barely remember what he did an hour ago let alone yesterday or the day before that. The speach center in his brain has been destroyed. He can't talk only grunt. It would take him about two hours to type what I've just written as his muscle coodination limited to only one arm and even then limited in that one arm is pretty much gone for good. If you'd like to help him become a musician I'm sure he'd enjoy the company.

I've got a nephew who is autistic. He isn't one of those 'rain man' types he is very very low functioning. At 23 the most he's every mastered is going to the bathroom by himself. He sleeps in a padded room without a bed because given the opporitunity if anything unnerves him he'll beat himself silly trying to beat the pain, real or imagined out of his system. Maybe you can reach into his mind and pull him out of the deep fog he's been living in all of his life.

I've got a sister. She's about 5 years older then me. When she was 11~13 she tried and tried and tried to play the guitar. It was a nice guitar. She had nice teachers. She would practice to no end. And she'd cry that she just wasn't getting it. It tore her apart. It wasn't for the lack of effort or the lack of education. She was simply not a musician. When she put playing the guitar behind her she could focus on things she was good at. She's a great artist a wonderful chef, devoted mom and career woman. Her life is very fulfilling to her without playing an instrument. But...it wasn't lack of effort or education that stopped her. She knew she had no talent and pressed on thinking someday she'd get it if she just tried hard enough. It wasn't enough. All the wish in the world does not make one a musician. And sometimes all the hard work doesn't add up to a hill of beans.

[SJ_Digriz]

So any animal that comes in contact with a musical instrument is a musician by your definition. Does that apply to inanimate natural conditions like wind and rain? My air conditioner is very old and makes a humming noise if humming is a form of music does that make my air conditioner a musician?

A human being is much more than an animal, wind, rain, or an air-conditioner. Good grief.

Just as musicians are much more than human beings who can push down the key on a piano and have it make noise.

[robogone]

Perhaps your life experiences have tempered you to the point where you don't see things the same way as others. There are three people in your life who have or would struggle to play music, but that doesn't validate any blanket statement that there's a black and white distinction between musicians and non-musicians.

As with everything there's plenty of gray area, and I don't see that there's any benefit to tell anyone that they are simply not cut out to do something. Make them aware of their delusions in a constructive way if that's helpful as people should maintain a good perspective of where they are, but don't put them on the scrap heap.

There are plenty of people who do badly in high school who go back to college later in life. Because they struggled and seemed to get nowhere it doesn't mean they should be a lost cause.

I think anyone can be a 'musician'. Perhaps a few struggle badly because they have coordination issues that they can't overcome or that there is a gap between desire and perseverence.

I agree with the previous comment that a person who can put their finger on the keyboard is a musician, as long as it's in the context that it's done with the intent of producing music. We've been over this ground before with the usual suspects when we cast derision on people who call their artistic output music but it doesn't conform with formal definitions of what is 'music'. Let's not revisit it.

[SJ_Digriz]

this is the same as giving everyone a trophy at the end of a sporting event. That doesn't make everyone in the room an athlete because they happened to be on the court/field or in the pool.

[robogone]

this is the same as giving everyone a trophy at the end of a sporting event. That doesn't make everyone in the room an athlete because they happened to be on the court/field or in the pool.

Not really. It's more like giving everyone a medal for participating but the winners are the ones that get the trophies.

I would be loathe to discourage anyone from learning music and would call anyone who is happy that what they produce is music a "musician". I'm really not sure what good reason there would be to deny anyone that description.

[SJ_Digriz]

this is the same as giving everyone a trophy at the end of a sporting event. That doesn't make everyone in the room an athlete because they happened to be on the court/field or in the pool.

Not really. It's more like giving everyone a medal for participating but the winners are the ones that get the trophies.

I would be loathe to discourage anyone from learning music and would call anyone who is happy that what they produce is music a "musician". I'm really not sure what good reason there would be to deny anyone that description.

everyone should be encouraged ... but participating in music doesn't make you a musician anymore than reading an anatomy and physiology book makes you a doctor

[SJ_Digriz]

this is the same as giving everyone a trophy at the end of a sporting event. That doesn't make everyone in the room an athlete because they happened to be on the court/field or in the pool.

Not really. It's more like giving everyone a medal for participating but the winners are the ones that get the trophies.

I would be loathe to discourage anyone from learning music and would call anyone who is happy that what they produce is music a "musician". I'm really not sure what good reason there would be to deny anyone that description.

everyone should be encouraged ... but participating in music doesn't make you a musician anymore than reading an anatomy and physiology book makes you a doctor

Also, winner/loser isn't being an athlete.

[SJ_Digriz]

look, we can dumb down the barrier to entry to anything to placate all of the socially conscientious dipshits that want to make everyone feel good about themselves. But, at the end of the discussion if you can't communicate musical ideas either written or stylistically your are not a musician. There are tons of touring bands that are full on non-musicians. They have no idea what they are doing. They are playing music, but that doesn't constitute a musician.