You and music: a poll for the discerning individual.
 

Don't think too much about the thread title. I'm working on my personal branding.

A conversation in another thread got me wondering about this.

When we think about music, I think there are three main things that one can do.

One can perform music without instruments, which I like to call singing.

One can perform music by playing an instrument, which I like to call playing an instrument.

One can create music, which I like to call composing.

Which one of these do you think is the hardest to do well? Which would you most want to be able to do well?

By "well", let's assume a definition that you're good enough to make an upper middle class living doing it. Not rich and no mansions, but you're comfortable.

Poll forthcoming in a one anna two anna ...

In before the poll to say that the answer to which is hardest is "composing" by a vast margin.

I would personally like to sing well. I think I'd get more daily, private satisfaction out of meager singing talent to just have fun with.

The most difficult is composing music for the masses.

Anyone can learn to sing or play an instrument (or multiple instruments for that matter).

Not many can write music, whether it's film, television, jingles, pop songs, love songs, sad song, angry songs, etc. that can touch millions upon millions of people.

How often do you go into a bar where someone is playing someone else's music?

And how often do you go into a bar and hear someone playing their own original music?

That right there should tell you which is the most difficult.

Composing music in a general sense and I'd most like to sing.


I somehow was good enough to sing in a school-sanctioned group in college, but turned it down because I'd have to dance as well. Kinda regret that now.

It's interesting that being unique in terms of composition will tend to get you nowhere. There's obviously a formula, much like Alpo and Friskies have a formula of horse meat to bullshit.

If 20% of free thinkers and 5% of mouth breathers enjoy your music you have nothing. These days, the idea is to captivate 80-90% of the mouth breathing population. (Makes sense)
Being able to compose, play an instrument or sing are all useless without any marketable "product".

To answer the question. Composition is the soul of music. Without that ability you're merely a cog in some machine.
Playing an instrument, preferably piano or guitar, would be second on the list since it teaches the building blocks of composition.
They're the chicken and the egg. The instrument can often cause the motivation for composition.

I think composition is hardest except for the really crazy composers that bleed this stuff from their pores.

They should try walking with a bassoon in a marching band, but I digress.

It's definitely not the skill I'd want the most tho.

What about tap dancing? Is that playing an instrument or performing music without instruments?

Also, I didn't tamper with your poll this time. You're welcome.

I'm an accountant. It's all ****ing hard and I can't do any of it.

Composing I am assuming because of what my daughter told me about writing a good fiction story. After having one toughest creative writing profs at FSU she learned that writing (composing) a really good fiction story is not easy at all either. I assume it's similar to composing a song. Creating a composition in any of the visual arts seems much easier though.

I thought you were a farmer?

You don't happen to know a Monty Broeckelman out of Dodge City do you?

My hypothesis when I started this poll was that composing would be the most difficult, but would also be the least desired, probably since it's the least public. It's an interesting perversion of supply and demand, because I would normally expect the most difficult and rare skill to be the most valued.

People have to really really want to do it.

When I read the "playing an instrument" part I'd assumed this person would be writing/creating their own music for said instrument. Not like just a cover band or something.

So, they'd be composing their own music as well...even if it's not a full orchestra, just their part.