How many people, in GENERAL, are musically inclined?

I’ve played drums for 40 years but I don’t really consider myself to be an especially gifted drummer, I am no Neal Peart but I can play some of his songs but there are many that I just couldn’t pull off to a degree that I would be satisfied with.
I consider myself an adequate drummer that has played in probably 6-7 different bands in the hard rock/metal genres.
I haven’t played seriously for a long time now because of life’s different issues but my drum set is still all setup in my basement just waiting for me to come back to it.

This is a great question. I play guitar (and drums and bass only because I can't find anyone to play with) and I really only enjoy jamming and writing my own music. Every town I live in I ask every person I meet if they play music. 99.9% say no. And of the people I've met that do play, they mostly only play covers. It is extremely rare to find someone who can legitimately jam. On the spot creation.

My parents made me learn piano when I was in 3rd and 4th grade. I absolutely hated it. Then they switched me to sax. That was a little better, but I really had no desire to play other people's work. They finally switched me to guitar. Same issue. Just not for me to play cover songs. I gave up. In my mid-teens I finally started listening to Hendrix and Page, like actually listening and hearing what they were doing. I realized I could learn by ear. Then I got bored. Then one day songs and riffs would come to me, like messages from the universe. So I started writing my own music. That was over thirty years ago. I still do it to this day, when I have time. Not that it's any good, but I enjoy it. My dog rolls her eyes and leaves the room whenever I pick up my guitar.

My wife plays guitar and ukulele. She plays very good and has a great voice. But she can only do covers. She is also a great artist, but can only draw what she sees. I'm wicked cartoonist - all from my imagination. Who the hell wants to draw a flower arrangement?

I record my music, only so I can remember it, and one day when I have time, go back and polish. Some samples here if you dare: soundcloud.com...

Great post James

Musical skill and/or talent is less and less common as time goes on. There was a time when people actually went to school to learn things, but no mas. Between the internet, "autism" (vax sufferers) and video games, no one cares about being smart or good at anything anymore. I can actually read and write in cursive - and can do calligraphy even - and don't need to draw a giant box to do simple math, believe it or not.

I am a drummer. My Dad and his three brothers are drummers, and their father was a drummer.
We all (except my Grandfather, God rest his soul) later moved on to bass and/or guitar but we all started on drums. And we all favor Ludwig drums. When people get bored, some bite their nails, some play with their hair. I grab two pens or pencils and start banging on whatever is in front of me. Fortunately I'm good at it so if in public it's actually more impressive and enjoyable than annoying (I imagine in my head but probably not at all true.) I have some vintage Ludwigs and can use my Dads to record whenever, and also an electronic kit I can play with headphones at 3am in my apartment if I want. Haven't done that in years tho.

I'm a certified sound engineer, and I can fake piano, organ and synths by figuring the parts of what I want to play be it originals or covers and some studio magic, recording a few bars at a time but I couldn't play a song start to finish on keyboards save for "chopsticks" to save my life, though I've covered intricate classical music and composed some good stuff by doing this. I collect and restore and modify vintage stuff. I own 13 guitars, 4 basses a 62-key midi synth, a 1960s Italian Farfisa Pianorgan, a Yamaha Keytar, a Moog, a Theremin, and many "world" instruments. I'm currently building Hurdy Gurdys. (google it. they're cool.)

Another close family member was playing an instrument in high school band for years but since Covid and the schools idea that a marching band playing music outside 6 feet apart is "high-risk" and cancelled band class (as opposed to literally every other thing in school because derp,) he's given it up in favor of video games because it's no fun playing music by himself.

The decline of musical talent in American society is clearly mirrored in modern pop "music."

a reply to: burntdogg

Checking out your page now. I too also used to ask people if they play music or not. I no longer do nor do I really play well with others any more. I'm a musical snob now lol.

I'm replying because of the "they only play covers" comment you made. I found a funny thing in the punk rock scene...people who say they won't learn my songs and play in any other band than their own because they DON'T play anything they didn't write.
Funny thing is - I soon realized this was code for "I don't know notes or scales, and I wrote everything MY band plays, which isn't really very good and my parts are quite simple."

I like this first track, you got chops and good writing too. I'll keep listening and follow.

Thanks for the compliments FraterAetherius.
I've met a few of those guys - "I only play my own stuff" cause they have no idea what they are doing, they learn 5 chords, write some Jack Johnson sounding mush and impress all the girls at the party. That's cool I guess, at least they are playing, or is it faking?

I post up on craigslist every once in a while to try to find people to play with, I gave up and followed a request to play in a cover band. Had to learn 60 songs in three weeks, solos and all. Pretty easy with all the tabs out there and the tab players like guitarpro/ultimate guitar. I got bored and quit - they refused to jam. But I did finally dial in Dire Straights Sultans of Swing - "hardest/best guitar song ever", whatever, I disagree.

I appreciate your instrument collection! Theremins are cool! I've jammed with a few Moogs, love em. And Hurdy Gurdys, heck yeah!

a reply to: JamesChessman
I think you're right about most people not having musical talent.
I look at my family and I don't see any musicians and that's a lot of people!
Also, it seems like some people who are musicians never talk about it or they don't tell many people about it.
Some people I know have told me they only play for themselves. It's like they don't want to be in a band.
Finally, it seems a lot of people play instruments when they're kids, but once they grow up they give up playing them.

Growing up, I always felt like music was something other people "just had" or didn’t. I wasn’t musically inclined either—my family was more into sports than anything creative. But my wife surprised me last year when she decided to pick up the ukulele out of nowhere. She’s not a natural by any stretch (she'd agree!), but watching her learn and have fun with it has been eye-opening.

originally posted by: Huronyx
Growing up, I always felt like music was something other people "just had" or didn’t. I wasn’t musically inclined either—my family was more into sports than anything creative. But my wife surprised me last year when she decided to pick up the ukulele out of nowhere. She’s not a natural by any stretch (she'd agree!), but watching her learn and have fun with it has been eye-opening.

She actually started with music lessons onlineand found a site called Artmaster that made it so approachable, even for someone with zero experience. It's been cool to see how structured lessons can help someone who isn’t “born musical” get into it. Now she’s not Mozart or anything, but she can play a few songs, and it's fun for both of us. I even hum along sometimes, which shocks everyone who knows me, ha!