At what point can someone consider themselves a musician?

Don’t fool yourself.

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Do you need other people involved for the points?

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In the era of webcams and OnlyFans, I guess not?

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And we are the dreamers of dreams.

I have contradictory views on this. My wife is a trained musician, studied many years, can read charts and could sit down in most situations and perform music to a very high standard.

I have basic training but have spent long time making music however I acknowledge her years of devotion and dedication to her art. As such I feel an impostor calling myself a musician. I can do my thing but would shit myself surrounded by pros with charts and a count in.

I’m an artist who works with musical forms. It’s honest and pretentious so yay for me.

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thank you for bringing this rolling tank back onto it’s tracks.

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The contradiction being i would consider untrained villagers telling their stories and culture through music as musicians 100%. I suppose I’m in the no man’s land between high culture and indigenous people. More yay.

image

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Nope, I’m quite strict about that. :joy:

Tomorrow

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When you fell like it. It’s not a protected term. You can’t call yourself a doctor when you feel like it, but musician is fine.

If other people consider you a musician is another matter.

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Um, Dr. Dre and Dr. J???

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this resonates with me on a smaller level, these days if you really wanna go be a dead broke artist with no other commitments theres probably gonna be opioids involved at some point, but the idea that happiness comes when you stop questioning and just “do” is something ive noticed in my own life.

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I consider other people musicians when they play, record, and perform music they created themselves, or with a band. So to me, there is a level of skill involved. I wouldn’t consider myself a musician - and in fact, I tell people I’m not.

On a related note, I also never liked calling myself an artist. That isn’t for the creator to decide, in my opinion, since art is something that operates as a language, for communicating with other people. When someone calls themselves an artist, I’m immediately skeptical.

I suppose that discounts outsider art though, and I admit it’s a fairly academic way of thinking. I don’t particularly like these questions either, they usually feel like a fruitless distraction, or over analyzing instead of just making.

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Ive got a mate that plays the flute, she’s pretty good. But she cant play without the sheet music to read from.

Got another mate thats played sax for decades, he can read music, plays in a big band, can improvise really well, he also plays lots of other instruments, writes his own stuff etc.

Ive played in lots of bands with various people, most of them untrained, no formal learning at all.

I have basic music theory, cant read music. Ive made many albums, eps, released records, cds and tapes, done shit loads of gigs. I can play drums, guitar (badly) and twiddle knobs.

We’re all musicians.

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professional hobby. Pro Am.

RC ProAM?

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That’s true, I should have said lawyer. Much less popular MC moniker.

Congrats on the progress! Don’t worry about labels, everyone will have a different opinion anyways.

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Nintendo? If so that was one of my favorites.

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Had to look it up, and apparently there’s a DJ Esquire. Who knows… maybe they’re a lawyer too?