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The purpose of practicing is to make music, music for everyone to hear.

If you spend all your time practicing at home and no one ever hears you, have you made music?

I write this because of all the silent profiles I see.

You've heard it yourself, though, haven't you?

I think your first line is an assumption that might be the way some professional musicians approaches music. If you think it's true the second line follows. But most amateurs(99% of those who play) play for others only relatively rarely and I think playing for themselves mostly or exclusively is just as good a reason to play.

I certainly don't think your first line is a true assumption. I think it was Isaac Stern who used to say "Did you make music today?" instead of "Did you practie today?". I think his idea was that even practicing is not some musically unimportant activity akin to spending an hour on a treadmill.

Also, I'm sure there are many who do play occasionally for others who choose not to post their playing on PW.

Usually, people tend to make music for specific people, or specific types of people. A rock musician won't be performing in the hopes that a classical music fan hears them - they tend to focus their creative efforts on rock fans.

I would never play Mozart for a person who is a fan of only country music, for example.

I agree with the other posters, so far - making music is just as applicable when there's only one person involved. I've always seen it as a personal interraction or conversation between the performer and the instrument: anyone who happens to hear that special moment, is only participating second-hand in making music - mere witnesses to it. They can become moved and touched, as they want, but they are not necesarry. When they are gone, I still play.

That's an unsubstantiated assumption.


You are equating the act of performing with the act of making music. The two may coincide, but they aren't the same thing. Performance (including recordings on the internet) is an ego-driven pursuit. It is the desire to display one's skills as well as impress and please other people. I don't mean ego-driven in a negative sense, just that it is about things that are not music per se - how people feel about you and how you feel about them is extrinsic to music. Many people lack the confidence or sense of accomplishment that would make them want to post examples of their playing. They may also only play for their own pleasure - to hear music coming out of their own mind and hands and the satisfaction that brings. It may not add anything to their experience to play for others.

I play every day and revel in the music I make. I improvise a lot and try to create textures that I haven't heard before. That is my biggest pleasure in music. When I play piano, it's mostly for myself. I perform on guitar regularly, as I am more proficient on that instrument. Occasionally I do play piano for somebody but it doesn't give me any more of a sense that I am making music than if I play alone - in fact, it's often less so because when you are being observed you are partially distracted. I feel most free and in command of my true musical identity when I play alone.

Don't be too quick to impose your values on others.

I used to record my playing but stopped because of the time, expense, and aggravation involved. I admire the efforts of those who have posted their recordings, but it's not for me.

What do you mean by "silent profiles"?

Regards,

In other words if you were stuck on a desert island forever would you still play? No.

If you want anybody to "make a tree fall in the woods" while you're there, I'm sure anybody can do it.

Sounds quite condescending to me...

I hear me.

Are you sure you can make that claim for everyone? unless, of course, your envisioned desert island has no piano! However, most of these desert island scenarios always assume conditions appropriate and equipment available to fulfil the hypothesis.

Regards,

Sorry, a bit too succinct there - I meant me! (...or come to think of it did I?)

Combining this with John v.d.Brook's recent thread "Musical Orgasms":

Playing by yourself and playing with yourself are perhaps not so different from each other.

Or, in an alternate turn of phrase: Most piano music is more enjoyable when both hands are available to play it.

David, please, there are children in the room!

I am, and I do. (there are pianos here)

Canonie, in Australia, which may fulfill the definitions of "desert" and "island"

It is not like a tree falling in the woods and no one hearing it because there is SOMEBODY in the room - YOU...

If I woke up tomorrow morning and for whatever reason I was the only person left on the earth, and everyone else had just disappeared, my thoughts would probably quickly turn to "ooh, imagine how much practice I could get done."

I play music for my own enjoyment. If other people enjoy it too then thats jolly nice.

It sometimes happens that a musician performs in order to share the beauty and meaning of the music with an audience.

edit -- I just noticed Pianoloverus started a separate thread on this topic

There's nothing like selective quoting to make your point...

I also play music for my own enjoyment. Last time I played piano in public,about 4 years ago, a friend and I put a program together with Celtic harp, piano, and flute. We did some solo pieces, some duets, and we had a wonderful time and shared the music we love with others.