MTGuru wrote:If at some point a person does not have the ability learn by ear, and at some later point they do have it, then at points along the way they simply don't yet have the full and necessary skill set. No need for pejoratives. We're all beginners at some time. With effort, desire, motivation and ability they'll succeed.
Or not. I'm less rosy than Ben that everyone has what it takes, particularly among less malleable adult learners. I do think there are ways and degrees and settings to participate in the music which, though falling short of the full skill set, can still give a great deal of personal satisfaction to the participants. That probably describes many Chiffers, and they're all very welcome here.
But that's not the same as calling yourself a traditional musician with everything - musical and cultural - that goes with that. Few here can make that claim without qualification, myself included. Again, there's nothing pejorative about the distinction, and there are degrees of approximation. But just because you can ride a horse, that doesn't make you a cowboy.
Lovely. I wish I could write like that. Maybe I do have the innate ability, and all it would take would be a little effort, eh?
I agree with every word of that, except that I remain a perpetual optimist about people's innate ability to hear music and play it. What person who plays an instrument can't pick it up straight away and play Happy Birthday? Or Twinkle Twinkle? From then on, everything else becomes just a matter of degree.
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