Is there such a thing as musical intuition?

**patskywriter** · 12-03-2009, 12:14 PM

i tend to think of playing music intuitively as meaning playing 'by ear' vs learning from books and lessons ... am i right? if i am, then i'd say that i play intuitively ... ? i listen carefully, absorb some but not not all that i hear, and then i go for it.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 12-03-2009, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by patskywriter

i tend to think of playing music intuitively as meaning playing 'by ear' vs learning from books and lessons ... am i right? if i am, then i'd say that i play intuitively ... ? i listen carefully, absorb some but not not all that i hear, and then i go for it.

So if you start off playing by ear then later learn from books and lessons, your intuition disappears and you can no longer play intuitively?

**patskywriter** · 12-03-2009, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

So if you start off playing by ear then later learn from books and lessons, your intuition disappears and you can no longer play intuitively?

hmm, i honestly don't know! ideally, an intuitive player wouldn't lose confidence in their native abilities after getting 'educated,' and would learn to rely on both the ear and the knowledge gained from books/lessons.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 12-03-2009, 03:49 PM

I think in the end, if you try to shine a light on what "intuition" really is, there is no such thing. It's like trying to find the "mind". There's only the brain.

**randalljazz** · 12-03-2009, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

I think in the end, if you try to shine a light on what "intuition" really is, there is no such thing. It's like trying to find the "mind". There's only the brain.

that is a materialist point of view. not everyone understands existence to be that way.

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 12-03-2009, 05:10 PM

How did we get from jazz to the personal hell that is my godless universe?

**patskywriter** · 12-03-2009, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

I think in the end, if you try to shine a light on what "intuition" really is, there is no such thing ...

i think there probably is, although you might not like the concept. i was just referring to the ability to play music without having studied it.

**Joe Dalton** · 12-04-2009, 08:28 AM

As long as what people mean is clear, it doesn't matter how they word it.
Intuition or instinct in this case just means the persons own musical ideas without a knowledge of the theory that might be behind it.

**merseybeat** · 12-04-2009, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by Joe Dalton

As long as what people mean is clear, it doesn't matter how they word it.
Intuition or instinct in this case just means the persons own musical ideas without a knowledge of the theory that might be behind it.

And hereth ends the lesson! Well put Joe!

Eddie