Always dangerous to set up categories when there is so much grey area (50 shades?).
Safe to say we'd all like to be technically proficient, great composers, and able to add meaningful and beautiful parts to great compositions of others. A few here meet all these qualifications...not most of us, or me.
The first and most appreciated category are the composers. Those bold and talented individuals work out a template for the rest of us to have a play with. There are also those who compose less, but lay down rhythms or other sounds to stimulate our imaginations and give the rest of us a start. The last of this group are the “sharers” who don't necessarily want adds, they just want to post a fairly complete track.
The rest of us add to these and make it into a variety of finished or unfinished tracks. Some hear their part and try to play so that their addition is “seamless” and it sounds like they were playing together (live) with the composer or previous players. Others use the track to express themselves and play the most challenging (difficult) lines possible. For them it's an exercise in honing their skills and less about fitting into the music. When it's a less experienced player it's usually heart-warming to hear how the community gives support, even if critical comments could help more.
Another category are the jammers (I'm one). They don't put in the time that others might and as a result don't always produce optimal results. Jammers are found in all levels. They hope for happy accidents or have a level of competence that lets them correctly guess where the music is going.
Mixing egos into these categories gives various results from competent soloist to incompetent loud playing narcissist. All are indulged with varying levels of collective acknowledgement.
A special category also exists that I've got to admit bugs me: the tagger. They find tracks they like and try to be the first to add to it. The time between posting of a track and the tag can be just a few minutes. They seem to just want their name attached regardless of the musicality of their add.
It's like having a community mural that similarly gets tagged over the names of those who created the work.
The site has always had the lofty goal of being a safe place in which to learn, play, and find musical connections. It's always been especially good for those wishing to better their skills by playing with fine musicians and being able to hear new music rather than playing standards or covers. It's a musical community emphasizing cooperation. Comments are encouraged to be “compliments”. It's debatable if this always helps when constructive criticism may do more for some players who wish to learn.
Where do you fit?
Safe to say we'd all like to be technically proficient, great composers, and able to add meaningful and beautiful parts to great compositions of others. A few here meet all these qualifications...not most of us, or me.
The first and most appreciated category are the composers. Those bold and talented individuals work out a template for the rest of us to have a play with. There are also those who compose less, but lay down rhythms or other sounds to stimulate our imaginations and give the rest of us a start. The last of this group are the “sharers” who don't necessarily want adds, they just want to post a fairly complete track.
The rest of us add to these and make it into a variety of finished or unfinished tracks. Some hear their part and try to play so that their addition is “seamless” and it sounds like they were playing together (live) with the composer or previous players. Others use the track to express themselves and play the most challenging (difficult) lines possible. For them it's an exercise in honing their skills and less about fitting into the music. When it's a less experienced player it's usually heart-warming to hear how the community gives support, even if critical comments could help more.
Another category are the jammers (I'm one). They don't put in the time that others might and as a result don't always produce optimal results. Jammers are found in all levels. They hope for happy accidents or have a level of competence that lets them correctly guess where the music is going.
Mixing egos into these categories gives various results from competent soloist to incompetent loud playing narcissist. All are indulged with varying levels of collective acknowledgement.
A special category also exists that I've got to admit bugs me: the tagger. They find tracks they like and try to be the first to add to it. The time between posting of a track and the tag can be just a few minutes. They seem to just want their name attached regardless of the musicality of their add.
It's like having a community mural that similarly gets tagged over the names of those who created the work.
The site has always had the lofty goal of being a safe place in which to learn, play, and find musical connections. It's always been especially good for those wishing to better their skills by playing with fine musicians and being able to hear new music rather than playing standards or covers. It's a musical community emphasizing cooperation. Comments are encouraged to be “compliments”. It's debatable if this always helps when constructive criticism may do more for some players who wish to learn.
Where do you fit?
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