The Musical Moron - rise of the Non Musician

That said, loosen up a little or just don't play with him. If he didn't think your advice was applicable, maybe it wasn't as far as his goals are concerned. Or maybe you didn't really demonstrate well enough how it could be applicable. People retain information they care about. What he needs to know is why he should care about the info that's being presented to him. No need to rant about him on the internet. What kind of music does he play?

I once had a co-employee who was like that with computers. He thought he knew all about them, but OMG -- if his job involved using a computer, the company would have been bankrupt in 10 minutes. I think he was a night watchman or a security guard.

Thanks, folks. It's not - honestly - an ad hominem attack on one individual - there are countless thousands like him - not is it "just don't play with him" - it was more a case of - for ten years, not even being able to get away from him or pull him up. "Works environment". 

You know when some nut case appears on a show like "Britain's got talent" - and they're clearly utterly talentless and self deluded and argumentative ? Now imagine not being able to get rid of them. For ten years. 

I think I mentioned I've been a teacher, and I go absolutely out of my way to help anyone. If someone is interested in learning music, I will help them, no matter what. The world needs more musicians  - proper ones. 

What it doesn't need is more people who THINK they're musicians, who show off the little they do know to appear "important". God, no. It used to happen back in the 70's and 80's, but with the rise of the internet, people are convincing themselves that watching a few YouTube videos and reading a few Wiki pages that they are some kind of authority. It seems to becoming endemic.

Musical snob, no. Everyone on this forum enjoys music which is written and performed by people with a high degree of skill. Progressive music stands out like a rare island in a sea of mediocrity and lack of talent. Let's encourage proper musicianship and the dedication it takes to craft proper music. And hope the idiots all go far, far away. 

wiz_d_kidd wrote: So what? Not everyone has the same skills, motivation, knowledge, practice, and time to become proficient, let alone master, an instrument -- or any subject for that matter. If jingle-jangling some chords and blabbing technical nonsense is his speed, let him! I'm sure he's happy. Your post sounds awfully judgemental and snobby, calling someone a moron, idiot and imbecile just because they're not as good as you.

Edited by moshkito - March 09 2019 at 07:28

Davesax1965 wrote: .... The problem is that we only have one catch all term, "musician".  Perhaps it's important that musicians create something. Where I think it becomes interesting is when they create something unusual and interesting - and it's their own work.

Hi,

I don't know what this has to do with Wombats, which are reptiles.

moshkito wrote: wiz_d_kidd wrote: So what? Not everyone has the same skills, motivation, knowledge, practice, and time to become proficient, let alone master, an instrument -- or any subject for that matter. If jingle-jangling some chords and blabbing technical nonsense is his speed, let him! I'm sure he's happy. Your post sounds awfully judgemental and snobby, calling someone a moron, idiot and imbecile just because they're not as good as you. Peter Michael Hamel in his book ... FROM MUSIC TO THE SELF ... which is not a fun read for most of us, I do not think, since it is very academic and very much a book that puts down pop music and the aforementioned folks that do not know music. There was a joke in it, though that I have always remembered. There was an old man playing an instrument on top of the hill, and it had one string, and he kept plunking it ... and saying ... I GOT IT ... I GOT IT ... and everyone that came by would say ... WHAT's HE GOT? The only part that bothers me about the comment is not Dave's real thought though ... I think he merely means at least folks that want to communicate musically, SHOULD/COULD have a reasonable knowledge of something or other ... in order to make this communication work ... however, even Dave forgets one of the most important things in music ... and you can find it in Robert Wyatt's book, when they were recording Syd Barrett ... and after an attempt to record some song, one of the guys turned to Robert and asked ... what key is he playing in? ... and Robert says ... he don't know the keys ... he just plays! AND, if Robert is right, and I think he is considering his experience and expertise, I would imagine that Dave also needs to learn to listen to things, and not be so methodical about how he plays his OWN music ... and I think even other musicians, that are not as concerned with "keys" as they are with the flow of the material regardless ... and it's not like the 20th century was the one that took keys and threw them up in the air like Burroughs did with words ... it's not about "melody" necessarily is my thought altogether. I'm sure Dave will disagree with me on this.

Mosh, please refer back to the bit where I said that people who didn't know what they're talking about should kindly shut the f*ck up. 

You're right. I disagreed with you on it.