Throughout my life, I’ve met many musicians. Or, if I were to level up my standard, I would say, I’ve met many people who play music. Uhm, what’s the difference? Well, it’s a subjective point really, to some extent. To me, a musician is not only someone who can play music. A musician is someone who can play music and also listen to other musicians (recursive definition intended!).

I have a friend who plays music. To preserve anonimity, let’s just call him Gorg. In my eyes, he’s not a superb brilliant player. Nevertheless, I enjoy his playing, which actually matters (Hm, this can be another topic for another post, but anyway…). And then, not long ago, I met a new music player. Let’s just call him Barg. I listened to him playing solo. “Beautiful,” I thought, “I want to be able to play that instrument like that.” To make a long story short, out of necessity, Gorg and Barg had to play together plus a bunch of other people. It was far from pleasant for me. Barg played as if he had been alone. He didn’t adjust to others. If he had been heard in isolation, it would sound great. But that wasn’t what happened. The whole ensemble minus Barg would be better.

I should haven’t been surprised. It wasn’t the first time I heard something like that. Yet, that happening made me even more aware that being able to play a musical instrument well is not enough to be a reasonably good musician. Being a musician requires awareness of oneself and others. A musician even knows when not to play any note. A good musician should be selfless and flexible.

(This post title is a reference to a very old album by Lee Ritenour.)