THE MUSICIAN: BORN OR DONE ??? Original opinion article by Manuel Álvarez
Music!!! How much we can not say about this wonderful means of expression inherent in the human being. It is a noble, sublime art that has accompanied man since the dawn of his existence. It first arises as an incipient need for communication and then as an artistic expression. Definitely if there is something that identifies us as social beings, sensitive, with reason and creative capacity, inexorably that "something" is the art of making music.
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As the curtain of time has been falling on the history of humanity, Music has gone from being a mere tribal communicative expression to a means of transmitting culture from generation to generation. Then, by use and improvement, was taking the characteristics of a trade to, after many years, become a profession. From the indigenous and their ancestral songs, through religious rituals accompanied by songs and spiritual rhythms, then minstrels and troubadours singing medieval stories, until more recently in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries where musicians deepened their academies studies in order to compete for the position of official composer of some European court.
Now, I would like to share with you a question that, not infrequently, has raised serious controversies among musicologists, music lovers, fans and lovers of music in general: Is the Musician born or made? That is ... Where does the creative and interpretative capacity of a person come from when creating or executing music? Is it true that the Musicians are only those with a natural predisposition or innate talent for this artistic discipline, or will it have to do with the amount of years and time spent in the classrooms in the Conservatories or Musical Academies? I do not pretend to get a definitive answer, nor impose my point of view, because these questions move a lot in the world of the subjective, but I would love to open the possibility of an exchange of opinions on the matter.
How many times have we not heard him say: "this person has a lot of talent for music" or "this other seems deaf, has no musical sound". Affirmations like these are common in our society, especially when children begin their formative stage and stroll in the possibility of developing an activity "extra chair", among which is, without a doubt, music. In another sense, but staying on the subject, we surely know a friend or family member who without previous study, beyond empiricism, manages to play with ease a piano, a drum or becomes the soul of the parties, by masterfully executing a guitar and stroll through a wide repertoire turning any evening into an improvised karaoke.
As in any human area, having ease for music, also "is carried in the blood," as some would say, and taking as examples the natural skills of certain individuals who, for example, have the so-called "Absolute Ear", which allows to recognize any note or tone just by listening to it and without external reference; or the case of some small child prodigy of the violin, who at a very young age is able to play any classical piece with ease, we can affirm that the natural predisposition to a greater or lesser degree for the musical discipline, helps these people to travel more quickly and with more ease its process of artistic creation.
What can not be denied, having touched on the innate ease for the music of certain people, is that musical studies open a world of almost infinite possibilities to anyone who wishes to deepen and evolve in their artistic performance, either by Hobby or professionally.
For many years, the study of Music as a university career was frowned upon by some traditionalist families, associating it with the bohemian world and with vices ... Nothing could be further from reality. While it is true that there are many examples of "Famous Musicians" who have lost their center and their north by falling into self-destructive lifestyles, it is also true that studying Music formally requires discipline, perseverance, a lot of practice and the investment of many years of deep studies, either in the Academic or Orchestral, or in the fascinating and complex world of Jazz, just to mention two examples.
There is always going to be someone who has not studied Music and knows how to masterfully play an instrument, and there will always be a person who has not shown ease for this discipline since his earliest childhood and that under a study regime and based on a lot of discipline, is achieved Become a great performer. There have been cases in which, in the labor market, someone who knows how to play the guitar very well and with a lot of "feeling", or "swing" or with a lot of "tumbao" as the Latinos say, get a position in a recognized band or as a session musician of a recognized artist. However, there is a premise that I share with you, especially my colleagues who may be reading these lines: "Talent is not everything", because having "Good Eyes" helps ... But sooner or later you will reach a ceiling and you can not move forward.
Likewise, the musician who spent 15 years inside the walls of a Conservatory (Traditional School of Classical Music) and wants to enter the professional field by playing, arranging or composing, must go beyond the "Border Lines" that suppose him his scores and books. The Musician must also let his creative authenticity flow, experiment in the world of improvisation and let his "Musicality" permeate everything he does or develops.
I have found many cases of colleagues who are excellent concert pianists in famous orchestras, but when they "remove the score" they are frozen by the fear of "letting go" and improvising freely, or listening to their ears. In the opposite case, I also know many who play or sing very well and not knowing how to read scores, or at least one cipher (American system for simple reading of chords), have lost great opportunities to shine in important stages.
Conclusion? For me, the Musician is born and made! What do I want to say with this affirmation to all those who wish to go through this exciting path: Do you like music? Do you want to develop a good Hobby to share with your friends or maybe take it more seriously and study to become a professional musician? Well, you must float all the talent you have inside and at the same time prepare you with the basic studies of the .
In my professional life I have managed to understand this symbiosis and I have always tried to maintain my creative and improvisation capacity at the same level, as well as the use of all the knowledge acquired by my time in the different institutions of music education. You have to let this "magic" flow from deep inside, which touches minds, ears and hearts, using the instinct and at the same time enjoying what is done. If you add a full knowledge of the instrument, technique, scales, mastery of harmony, etc., we will have an explosive combination that guarantees not only professional success, but also the most important: "aesthetic enjoyment" that flows in a mutual and bidirectional between the creator and the viewer.
Well my dear friends, I hope that this small opinion article has been to your liking. What do you think about it? Do they coincide in my assessment or do they have a different point of view? I would love to read your comments, so be welcome to leave them here on my Blog. Thank you very much for reading!
