Can you be a music lover if you don't play an instrument?

VEGANGELICA · 08-09-2009, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrar

i've just been thinking how shallow (for lack of a better word) that must make my appreciation of music, never experiencing the time and effort and blood and sweat involved in producing a song

are people who dont play even worthy of listening?

Quote:

Originally Posted by NumberNineDream

it does give you the feeling of being an alien to the subject. i think it's greater to experience it from within.

Hi, Shrar,
I agree with NumberNineDream who says that not playing an instrument can give you the feeling of being an alien to the subject...but I'd like to add that when people feel this way they are probably less separated from the world of music creation than they first think. If you've ever hummed, clapped, danced to music or sung your own little songs, you are using the original human instrument (our bodies)...and constructed instruments are just extentions of that.

For me one of the nicest aspects of learning to play different instruments is that doing so pushes aside the imagined veil of separation between me and "musicians" (rock music players, etc.) whom I used to view as "others." When I learned to play the violin when I was 8, I was young enough not to have this mental veil of separation, and so learning to play was just like learning to eat with a spoon, or write with a pencil...just an extension of all the other bodily learning we do in life. As a result, I never looked at orchestras or orchestral composers as in a realm that was far from me. However I *did* feel this sense of separation with respect to rock music bands (until I started playing guitar). I think if/when you learn to play an instrument, it will help you appreciate music more by making you realize how natural making music can feel.
--Erica