Gabe Snyder Blog 1 (Topic of my own Choosing): Music and Journeys

Something I've noticed as a musician is that there seems to be a large divide between classical musicians and self-taught musicians, not necessarily in how they interact or exist around one another but how they come to be musicians and their own personal journeys. A lot of classical musicians, due to the price of their instruments, tend to come from backgrounds of higher wealth, whereas self-taught musicians can come from all over the socio-economic spectrum. Classical musicians often tend to read sheet music and learn to play complex pieces with the addition of sheet music, whereas the self-taught musician tends to stick to contemporary styles of music and may often forge their own interpretation of a song, sometimes with or without the complexity of the original piece. I feel as though jazz is the perfect fusion of these two journeys, as it requires a complex knowledge of music and theory but also a lot of improvisation, communication, and independence from a director. All this being said, no music is bound to one journey and all should be celebrated, as talent comes in many forms.

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