What Makes a Real Musician?

Many people love music and want to pursue a career as a musician. They may want to be a singer, conductor, or composer. But what makes a real musician? Is it talent or skill?

Passion means that you're entirely committed to your work and devote all your time and energy to your craft. You're not going to waste time on things that don't matter or aren't fun.

Researchers have identified two types of passion in musicians: harmoniously passionate (HP) and obsessively passionate (OP). The former set performance-approach goals, such as learning a tricky passage at the proper tempo or being able to play a challenging piece from memory by a specific date, while the latter tend to compare themselves with others.

Commitment is a strong driving force that motivates people to achieve their goals. It drives athletes, musicians, and other creatives to focus on their wants and work hard to get them.

It's also essential for those who want to change their lives. Whether it's going back to school, starting a business, or changing careers, commitment helps people make their intentions clear and stick with them.

Communication is the act of conveying information, ideas, and emotions to another person. It may be in speech, writing, or another medium.

Successful communication will have congruency between words, meaning, and emotion. It should also incorporate body language and voice inflection.

As musicians, you work with bandmates, session players, studio staff, live sound techs, and (of course) your audience. That means you need to be able to communicate and negotiate effectively with people who aren't always in your same mindset.

Teamwork can be challenging, but it is an essential ingredient to successful music-making. Teams are built on the foundation of mutual respect, forgiveness, and acceptance of the different talents and abilities of everyone involved in a task.

Flexibility is an essential trait for a musician to have. It allows them to change their style and approach to music to fit the needs of a particular audience best.

This skill takes practice, patience, and perseverance to master. However, it can help any musician become better at their craft.

Taking the time to look at things differently and see their true significance is vital to curiosity. It can be applied to almost every area of your life.

Curiosity is an essential trait in a real musician because it helps us keep our minds active and engaged. This makes us better players and more effective practitioners. It also helps us solve the problems we face in our practice sessions and boosts energy.

Creativity is the ability to come up with new ideas. This might include a novel way to solve a problem, a musical composition, or a new method of playing an instrument.

Research on creativity has been done in several fields, including psychology and business studies. Psychological researchers study the relationship between creativity and intelligence, personality traits, and mental and neural processes.

Adaptability is a crucial skill for working in today's fast-paced world. In this context, it means adjusting to change promptly without sacrificing quality or productivity.

It also means being open to new ideas and perspectives from new managers or co-workers. This opens opportunities to improve your performance and increase your value as a team member.

Flexibility means being able to adjust your movement, whether it's your physical or musical ability, in response to changing circumstances. This is a vital skill for dancers, musicians, and athletes.

In addition, flexibility also helps you maintain good physical health by improving mobility and reducing the risk of injury and muscle soreness. It's a crucial component of overall fitness, and it's important to practice regularly.