Are you a guitar player or a musician?

[aT19er]

I write and I feel proficient in my ability to mesh with most other musicians, but I don't feel like I know a whole lot about theory. I know that the circle of fifths is a thing, but I couldn't tell you anything about it.

 

[gtrdave]

"I am what I am." - Popeye

 

[Phletch]

I think I know where the OP is coming from. It has nothing to do with theory or reading or whatever; and I'm not discounting that. I can read decently (although not like a horn player or other cats who were weened on charts), and I've got a decent grasp of theory (but I try to learn something new every day). But that's not the point.

What the OP is getting at is, a guitarist plays guitar. He's concerned with the instrument. A musician uses his instrument to play music. The music comes first. It's all about the music (or the song), not the instrument used to make it OR the guy playing it.

I don't want to sound all airy-fairy, but being a musician in the context of what I think the OP is getting at is about leaving your ego at the door and doing what is best for the song.

 

[dropdee]

Musician: The most effective over 30 female repellant.

 

[Stratobuc]

Sir Paul doesn't read. Is he a musician?

To me a musician is someone who understands theory well enough to be able to, on the spot, read sheet music and transpose it to another key in their head in real time.

 

[FFTT]

I'm multi-skilled in creative arts, but I am all self taught.

To be honest, its like giving a chimpanzee a paint set and a canvas.
I have no idea what I'm doing, yet I still manage to create something artistic.

 

[ex-beerdrinker]

I'm a wanker.

Yep me too. I love wanking. I play for me. 31 years of wanking and still going strong.

 

[Sean French]

Musician. I write songs.
If there is no song then there is nothing to play.
Be it simple or complex. There must be a song and melody or knowbody will listen or care.

 

[KungFuLio]

noisemaker

 

[pima1234]

LOL!!!

My wife would characterize me as a guitar owner.

 

[pima1234]

I'm a guitar-ist.

 

[Calaban]

I was gunna actually reply to this but...

Nah.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

As I understand the OP, a musician is one who sees the big picture in a given piece. I play electric/acoustic/bass/some drums/enough keyboard to get into trouble and I know how to mix sound. I know how the bits fit together...though convincing people twice my age of that fact is another story entirely.

 

[chucke99]

I'm a guisician.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

Hey man, this is a family place. Keep that stuff down, will ya?

 

[strumnhum]

Never quite sure day to day exactly where I fit--maybe a musician trying to get better at playing guitar!?

 

[NyteOwl]

"I yam what I yam." - Popeye

I fixed that for you

 

[rob2001]

Do I have to choose?

 

[Honeyboy]

KiwiJoe that's exactly my point. It's about taste and understanding the essence of all music which in my opinion is tension and resolution.

 

[Average Joe]

Increasingly a musician. It took me a while to get past the worst of the guitarisms and actually concentrate on playing music. It's a work in progress though