ABSTRACT
WHAT do a rock singer, a jazz drummer, a church organist, and an orchestral cellist have in common? The obvious answer, of course, is that they are all musicians. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate four important issues related to being a musical person. The first of these issues has to do with whether some people are born musicians or whether it is a learned skill. Do we inherit musical talent or do we develop it? The second issue concerns musical personality. Do musicians have a distinctive personality, different from those who are less musical? Do all musicians share certain personality traits or do these vary among, say, singers and instrumentalists? The third issue concerns musical identity. What does it mean to think of oneself as a musician? Are there relationships between one’s self-identity and group identity, such as being a member of a band or choir? The final issue is one of musical preferences. What influences cause people to choose certain musical experiences over others? As is nearly self-evident, these four issues overlap somewhat, so that, although they are considered separately, the reader is encouraged to meld each successive topic into an overall conception of the musical person.
