(I thought this topic needed to be transplanted out)
Beware: the mirror that Baltus holds up to you is a distorted one.
Initially I expected good sense would prevail and people would shake their heads and move on. But I fear that some of the ideas in that post have infected even those who took time to contradict it, and wonder how many have been seduced by the apparent ring of truth to some of his observations.
(Cynth, I’ll take your post as an example, but I don’t mean to single you out, I hope you’re not offended.) In your post I read this:
… the ability to make actual music to some degree without having achieved the mastery of the true musician…
soon followed by this:
I am never going to be a real musician, …
Which saddened me. I think this idea of musicianship as virtuosity or talent is at odds with the heart and spirit (not to mention history) of traditional music. I think elsewhere in your post you acknowledge the notion of a continuum of musical greatness, yet seem to deny yourself freedom of movement along it. If your music will never be “real”, if you’ll never make the cut as a “true musician”… ?
The vast majority of the revered figures in Irish traditional music had, and have, day jobs. There is even a defensible point of view that states that a musician leaves the traditional sphere when he or she goes pro, and that traditional music ceases to be traditional music when it reaches the stage. One of the most vital and powerful things about traditional music in Ireland is the fact that it is NOT solely the domain of the few “true musicians” but is in fact a shared undertaking passed on through families and communities. Nonetheless the modern notion of music as something “musicians do” has gained hold here as well; I lose count of all the times a person who disavowed any skill in traditional music has picked up a tin whistle and “banged out a tune or two”. This is a shame because it not only creates an artificial barrier to participation, it makes it harder for people who “used to play” to return to active playing when their life circumstances (i.e. family or work responsibilities) change to allow it.
Baltus’ assessment of the primary demographics of the list may be right enough (though it leaves me wondering which category I fit into). But in the end, the “mirror” he holds up is telling us “you’ll never amount to anything.” This is mean-spirited and discouraging, no matter how you dress it up. It would make more sense to say “be patient and listen more” (which is one way to interpret Ennis’ famous timetable, I suppose).
I myself was firmly in the “fart out a few tunes” camp for years, but now I no longer hesitate to call myself a piper. Mr. Baltus might still think I am rubbish, were he to hear me, but nonetheless I have about 12 students and co-lead a local session. What caused this transformation? Time, desire, circumstance, and a certain amount of work. I dare say I am no more “talented” than I was a decade ago.
Am I a piper? Yes. Do I have a day job? Yes (there are only small a handful of pipers who do not). So did Martin Rochford, whose fiddle playing was so influential and inspiring to Martin Hayes (to pick a famous name); but Martin Rochford, I understand, considered himself first and foremost to be a piper, even in his last years when he may no longer have been able to physically manage the instrument. Was Martin Rochford a piper? I certainly believe so.
Was Seamas Ennis full of crap? Sometimes 
; you shouldn’t take everything he said at face value, surely; he also said “first you must learn the grip…” But I do think that the pipes are a long-haul kind of instrument, even for a fast learner. Ennis himself spent his “7 years listening” to his father James before getting a practice set, he didn’t go straight from that picture of himself holding some garden sticks at about age 4. Maybe he had slow burners like me in mind; I spent 8 years listening before I finally decided to buy a set of pipes, spent about 7 years practicing (a.k.a. “farting out a few tunes”), and, once I moved to Ireland, spent 7 years playing. Finally, my apprenticeship is over, but I feel my learning has just begun. Am I a great piper? No. But I would not rule it out entirely in my future plans.
Would the people on this list, myself included, stand a better chance of becoming “great pipers” if they logged off and practiced instead ? Surely.
Bill
p.s. - It’s true that there’s a lot of newbie-leading-newbie on this list, with both the comraderie and misguided advice that it entails. But this list also includes people who have been described (err, on this list ) as “the greatest living piper” and “the world’s greatest pipemaker” IIRC. This is a community, of sorts. Slagging off the whole bunch as wannabees is just trolling.
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