Posted by David on May 01, 2002 at 18:40:38:
In Reply to: What makes a good musician posted by Brandon Ostrom on May 01, 2002 at 18:28:12:
The answer is a very loud, emphatic - YES!!!!
Everything makes for a good musician. What you like, however, may be different than what I like in terms of the "good musician". Each person will have a different opinion of what makes a player "good". It certainly takes a certain amount of technical facility and range can be helpful. The ability to sit down and sight read something is good in free-lance situations but doesn't count towards whether a person is good musician or not, in my opinion. A good sense of rhythm works well and the ability to get across emotions with louds and softs is great as well.
There are some incredible technicians out there these days. Just because a person can play higher, lower, louder, softer, faster than someone else does not make that person a musician. The combination has to be put together in the right way at the right time and then that person will be deemed a "good, if not great, musician" by his/her peers. just my opinion.