Musical Skill

[AndyEdwards]

I'm writing a scheme of works for the music course I teach on

(Kidderminster college National Diploma in Music. Read all about it here> http://andyedwardsmusic.blogspot.com/
plug plug)

and some thoughts have occoured to me.

A few years ago the goverment commissioned a report which suggested the country needs skilled people and looked to education to supply this.
I agree that this is true.

BUT...

What would we define musical skill as?

I've just written a definition but I'll post it up later if this discussion gets spicy.

The question I have is this:

What is musical skill? How valuable is it to society and should a we, the tax payers fund establishments to develop these skills?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[MattANJH]

Could be taken in 2 ways IMO. First way being technical ability with an instrument. Second way would be an indepth understanding of music itself and being able to compose music and work with music very well.

Do I think either of these should be focused on by the tax payer? Not especially, I don't think either of those would really benefit society in the same was as say the construction industry does, it's all well and good having music but what's the use if we've nowhere to live?

[AndyEdwards]

Here in the UK this is funded in many ways. One is through music courses provided by various colleges (such as the one I teach on)

I would argue that music makes money like the construction industry. It creates jobs from the head of a record company to the person working in a bar in a nusic venue.
I think the governement should fund music but only if the colleges produce good musicians, Hence my question.

In a recession you could imagine a new government saying the same as you. 'Why fund music?'
This is why I think this question of what is skill and it's value to society is worth discussing seriously.

btw. I agree that technical ability and musical vocabluary are the skills we should teach but I don't know if this is what the government would describe as musical skill....

[Rhod]

I don't see any point in throwing funding at college level, if music isn't given a higher profie in primary and secondary level teaching also.

[Axe_meister]

Although when it comes to making money with music, is it really skill that is the defining metric.
Most revolutionary music (post war) has come from people who do not have a measurable skill.
Think Beatles (not a trained musician amoung them) the sex pistols, blues, rock'n'roll.
Whereas you're average highly trained musician makes very little in comparison.

[sfocata]

Damn good points from both Rhod and Axe_meister!

I guess the tricky thing is that musical "skill" is so hard to define. Pure accuracy or notes per second are quantifiable, but there are so many types of skill... including that of "untutored" players such as the Beatles.

In a formal educational context, maybe the best approach is to expose the kids to as many styles as possible and get them working with those styles, learning each instrument's role (not just their own) and how the music is put together.

[lespaulgb]

Depends on what you class as a 'skill'

Does playing umpteen notes at X BPM count as a skill? Does knowing every mode, in every key, everywhere on the fretboard count as skill?

How about writing/playing songs? Playing live every week? To how may people?

It depends on how you measure skill and your perception of what 'skill' is

[digitalscream]

Originally Posted by Axe_meister

Although when it comes to making money with music, is it really skill that is the defining metric.
Most revolutionary music (post war) has come from people who do not have a measurable skill.
Think Beatles (not a trained musician amoung them) the sex pistols, blues, rock'n'roll.
Whereas you're average highly trained musician makes very little in comparison.

You're only looking at the music of the last 50 years (more or less). Classically trained musicians also cycle a bucketload of money through the economy, and the bulk of their work is aimed in the opposite direction - training for technical skill and accurate representation/interpretation of the composer's intent.

That said, I think there needs to be a recognition that there's a lot more to making music than simply playing an instrument; perhaps there's a third element which should be considered - simply coaching groups of musicians who can already play to the level of professional bands. This would include stagecraft and performance skills, as well as studio-based skills and musical arrangements. Plenty of people can write a song, but people who can arrange and record them as well are much thinner on the ground.

[AndyEdwards]

I think rock n roll was a revolution in terms of it's redefinition of musical skill. It provided ways of making great music without having to develop the established classical model of technical skill.

But these new approaches have now become the standard (just look round this forum or look at the 1000s of technique magazines, DVDs and websites.

I accept these as the new skills. But aqre they less defined that the classical skills. Do we need to define them more or abandon them for new ways of making music (as the recent digital revolution in music suggests?

[Nik Harrison]

I could type a good 3000 words on this, but I'll keep it brief for now....

Any skill, by it's very nature, can be learned. "Musical skills" are a wide and varied mixture of a number of elements. Before the value that musically "skilled" people have to society can be quantified, a clear definition of what musical skill is needs to be established although I would suggest (very generally) that musical skills make a contribution to society in a number of measurably beneficial ways. These include (but are by no means limited to ) the scientifically proven research that has provided a substantial list of benefits which may be gained through the study of a musical instrument. The contribution which musical skills make to the UK economy via an internationally marketable art form which is instantly accessible via developments in digital media and e-commerce. The fact that music makes a sizable contribution to cultural identity, which again has marketable qualitys. I could go on all afternoon......