Andres Segovia

I’m still just a tiny bit fired up from last week where I called David Byrne an idiot. He’s more of a knucklehead, really, but it got me thinking along some very interesting tangents. As I was playing devil’s advocate back and forth on a number of topics, it occurred to me that there might be a distinct difference between someone who plays music and someone who is a musician.

And being a guitarist, of course, I started to think about the differences between being a guitarist and a musician who plays guitar. Let’s dig into this a little bit and see if there’s something to my epiphany, or if I’m just another knucklehead that is trying to stir up trouble and talk trash.

The Guitarist

A guitarist, simply, is someone who plays guitar. This can be someone who has only been playing for a few months, or someone who has been playing for 40 years. I think it would be safe to say that if you can hold a pick, tune your guitar, and you know enough basic chords to handle most simple songs, you’re entitled to wear the moniker of a guitarist. (Pick up your patch and membership card on the way out.)

I have met thousands of guitarists who play very well in all genres of music. Very tasty players, great songwriters, exceptional improvisers… people you would love to listen to and jam with. I have also met hundreds of players, however, who don’t know how to play a Major scale. Take them outside of a normal rock blues jam where the Pentatonic scale reigns supreme, and they have no idea what’s going on. I know plenty of players who can’t show you an F# note on the B string.

The Musician

As I was going through this in my head I defined a musician as, instrument of choice notwithstanding, someone who has some understanding of the inner-workings of music. I’m talking about key signatures, reading music/rhythms, basic harmony, etc. Musicians would be people who have learned – at the very least – the fundamental aspects of how music is put together. When at a jam session or seeing a piece of music for the first time, they can read through the music, or at the very least ask someone the notes or chord changes and have a general idea of what is being played. They are also able to describe how to play a piece of music in a way that doesn’t just involve playing the notes while someone looks at what they are doing.

The Distinction

Wes Montgomery

Given the definitions I figured out during my mental debate, being a guitarist doesn’t automatically make you a musician. There is absolutely nothing wrong with “just” being a guitarist. Heck, Wes Montgomery couldn’t read music, and neither can organist Joey DeFrancesco, to name a few. No one in their right mind is going to argue that Wes wasn’t a phenomenal player – arguably the greatest jazz guitarist ever. And perhaps Montgomery is even a bad example as he obviously had knowledge of advanced chords and jazz harmony. But was he a musician?

I’m not sure that necessarily sat right with me. I mean, who could argue that Wes Montgomery was not a musician? Just because he couldn’t read sheet music shouldn’t disqualify him from being given the title. Montgomery certainly played well enough to be classified as more than just a guitarist.

Let’s throw another wrench into the works. Dictionary.com defines a musician as:

1. a person who makes music a profession, esp. as a performer of music.

2. any person, whether professional or not, skilled in music.

So… What’s the Verdict?

I think my original theory was wrong in general, though it did present some very interesting food for thought. I rather like the simplicity of Dictionary.com’s definition of a musician, and I think I will leave it at that. I’m quite sure David Byrne is sitting back and reading this, reveling in the sweet taste of revenge as I join him amongst the ranks of the misinformed. Touché, Mr. Byrne, touché. But I still think lyrics are important…