Diatribe Of The Day: What Is A Musician?
The night after St. Patrick’s Day a couple weeks ago, Me, Ichuda, and some other friends spent the night getting drunk in a dive bar on the beach at Tybee Island. We ended up getting in like a 5 hour discussion and argument about Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I’m not going to rehash this tired debate here, but I am going to address a single element of the argument that has come out in previous music debates. There are certain phrases that people use when trying to make a point about particular music that always bother me. A simple example of this is: “Every *Insert artist or genre here* song sounds the same”. When I hear someone make an argument like this, It translates into my head as “I don’t know what I’m talking about”. The phrase that came up in this argument that I’ve heard in similar arguments with many different people was “*Insert band or artist here* are/is a great songwriter(s), but not (a) good musician(s).”
I hate when someone says something like this. It really infuriates me because there are a lot of layers to this sort of thinking that I disagree with. First, somehow the word “musician” has come to mean something different to people than its actual definiton. Certain people in this mind frame think that there is a black and white dichotomy between being a song-writer and being a musician. Either you are songwriter, a musician, or both. Not only is this oversimplification lack an understanding of the evolution of music, but it totally redefines the word “musician” to only account for those who can play an instrument technically proficient according to conventional norms determined by some popular thought based in tradition. It basically boils down to, the faster you can play a scale, the better a musician you are.
Now, I do not disagree that in assessing how good a musician someone is, its fair to take into account how technically proficient that person is. But that is only a part of the greater picture. These classical-rock fundamentalists rob the word of every other meaning and dimension it possesses. Here’s some definitions of the word ‘musician’ that i can find on the web:
Answers.com:
One who composes, conducts, or performs music, especially instrumental music.
Websters-online-dictionary.org:
1. Someone who plays a musical instrument (as a profession).
2. Artist who composes or conducts music as a profession.
But I think I like Wikipedia’s best:
A musician is a person who plays or composes music Musicians can be classified by their role in creating or performing music:
- A singer (or vocalist) uses his or her voice as an instrument.
- An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.
- Both singer and instrumentalist can be improvisers, who create real time music.
- Composers and songwriters write music.
- A conductor coordinates a musical ensemble.
Musicians may also dance or produce choreography. The concept of the musician and the status of the musician in society varies from culture to culture.
You will notice that by definition, song-writing is musicianship. The song-writer is not a separate sphere outside of the musician, but one flavor of musician. You’ll also notice that “conducting” is included in all three definitions. A conductor doesn’t even actually make any music or sounds, but it still considered a musician. The conductor manipulates the music using the musicians as his instrument. Music is making art with sound. You have to think on that raw, fundamental level to really understand what a musician is. To better illuminate my perspective on these two types of musicians and their importance I think in terms of comic books, The song-writer is the penciller and the technically proficient are the inker. The song-writer creates art and the technically proficient perfect it but there’s lots of different dimensions, and variations, and combinations. So arguing about who is a better musician between some who is purely a song-writer and someone who is purely a master of their instrument is impossible on a certain level. That’s not to say that value judgements don’t exist. The musician who can combine both as well as each of those clearly is a better musician.
Another problem with this argument is the limited conception of what passes for being a master of an instrument. There are classical musicians who believe that jazz and blues and rock ‘n’ roll aren’t “real music” and that musicians in those genres are not as good as classical musicians because they don’t do specifically what they are used to. Assuming that particular styles are objectively better than others is something that i will never agree with. As music evolves, styles evolve and just because a particular guitarist hasn’t been practicing a particular old style of music over and over again does not necessarily mean they are any less proficient at their instrument. They may be inventing a new style of playing the guitar that the rock dinosaur guitarists could never do. Also, as technology is moving more and more rapidly, what constitutes an “instrument” is changing and a particular musician doesn’t have to even touch classical instrumentation. Mastering making music from a computer is just as important as mastering music on a drum set.
The best way i can illustrate how i conceive what makes a great musician is to give an example. I consider Jim O’Rourke one of the greatest musicians of all time because he can play any instrument as good as the best and each with a distinct sound unmatchable, he can write brilliant songs, some of the best lyrics I’ve ever heard, he has a good and distinct voice, he can improvise at high levels, he has created some of the best pop songs and some of the most challenging and innovative experimental music I have ever heard, he has produced some of the best albums of the last decade, he mixes, he collaborates constantly with great musicians, and he is insanely prolific. The truly great musician to me is the one than can master as many different dimensions of music as possible.
So, I’m taking “musician” back. The next time someone is going on and on about some dude who can shred on a guitar in his sleep but couldn’t write a good song, tell your friend “yeah, he’s really good at his instrument, but he’s not a good musician.” and wait for that reaction.
Your reward for reading all of that garbage is a few Jim O’Rourke tracks:
Jim O’Rourke : Insignificance : Memory Lame
Sonic Youth : Murray Street : Rain On Tin
Loose Fur : Loose Fur : Carnival Knowledge
Jim O’Rourke : Terminal Pharmacy : Terminal Pharmacy
- Posted by Davy Minor on April 5, 2007 at 3:25 pm
