Musical genius

Great post DED I did veer away from the musical genius part. You are right, science is so much easier to quantify. Musical genius is a matter of taste, because I don't think it can be proven or tested. Mozart (IMO) was a musical genius because he was a freak of nature. I don't know that I could infer that title on anyone else though, I just think that anyone you can name is just great, but not necessarily a genius. Lennon, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong were all great men and many would call them geniuses, but I think that is where the term, like DED says, is over used.
Can you be a musical genius without the qualifying IQ? I would hope so. I'll bet Ray Charles IQ wasn't considered genius. If it seems like I'm knocking the greats, I'm not. I'm trying to clarify the term that is genius.
 
There are a variety of IQ tests and they don't score the same way. A score of 140 on one may be considered genius but the same score on another may not be.

Musical genius is in the ears of the listener whether or not the musician is 'genius'.

Folks with high IQs are often boring and socially inept. They often only shine in their particular element; math, physics, engineering, chemistry, etc. It is the polymath that can truly represent genius, such as DaVinci, Newton, Jefferson, Tesla, Socrates, Ptolemy. They are the ones that can reach out with their minds and change the entire universe.

I'd tell ya'll my IQ, but the number I would type would be too long to fit into this tiny post. :D
 
Jones, I hedged on Steve Gadd and it hurt a little to do it because I'd be hard pressed to find a drummer I liked more. If he changed the game, it was by extension more than innovation. He has also tended to always use the same devices in his playing.

I find it hard to see him as a genius on the usual measures, and that maybe puts the idea of genius in perspective. A person doesn't need to be a genius to be breathtakingly wonderful, and I also feel that the opposite is true; people with different gifts can produce superior output to geniuses. DED put it well when talking about Buddy - " just better than everyone else".

In essence, you have different types of geniuses - the brainiac (IQ) and the savant (the specialist). I liked Zap's initial thoughts about recognising forms that others don't, but he lost me when he talked about being able to sell ideas ... nope, only if he or she is a genius salesperson. Too many have died broke. Ability to intuitively pick up instruments? That would mean Keith Jarrett. He probably is, too, but I'd see that as being a prodigy, which I'd see as an attribute that overlapped with genius. I've known people who weren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer but they had prodigious musical talent.

A genius bartender? Why not? Larry, you're a electrician. That's all you are, right? It would be pointless calling you to play drums at gigs because all you can do is climb up into hot, cobwebbed confined spaces connect wires. Bartenders serve drinks and sparkies play with power. I used to work in a place where one of the cleaners was a talented artist, another was an amateur astronomer. I had an e-penfriend for years whose IQ was around 180. What that guy didn't know about math and physics probably wasn't worth knowing, but he enjoyed the physicality and outdoorsiness of managing construction projects for small firms in remote areas.

Larry, I had a feeling that what prompted this thread was you doing what comes naturally lol
 
Pollyanna said:
A genius bartender? Why not? Larry, you're a electrician. That's all you are, right?
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Yea but I don't have an IQ of 220. I would like to think that I have more skills than just being an awesome electrician lol. I just did that to make money because the drums (financially) didn't work out.

Pollyanna said:
Larry, I had a feeling that what prompted this thread was you doing what comes naturally lol
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Thinking? Self medicating? Sitting there staring at the drumkit?
 
larryace said:
Yea but I don't have an IQ of 220. I would like to think that I have more skills than just being an awesome electrician lol. I just did that to make money because the drums (financially) didn't work out.
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Maybe he just likes to chill at work doing something mindless? The beauty of menial work is that the boss doesn't own your mind during the 8 hours you're at work. Someone with an IQ of 220 could attend a bartending job while being free to let his mind roam ... and it gets him out of the house talking to people.

Also, like any of us, not all geniuses can actualise because being screwed up emotionally can get in the way. Bear in mind that brainiacs don't tend to be the most popular people around. Some manage to harness or sidestep their negative emotions. I'm sure some of them do what they do as an escape.


larryace said:
Thinking? Self medicating? Sitting there staring at the drumkit?
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All of the above, but you know what I'm saying. Keep it up. I enjoy your little oddball brainwaves :)
 
The term genius is nebulous, but I do feel in my heart that Keith Moon was a genius at the drum set. He came at everything from a different place, and nobody sounds like him.
 
It also comes down to separate intelligences. I had an assessment just over a year ago because of some learning anomalies. Essentially, my brain has a 50-point IQ deficit in a few areas (short term memory, spatial problem-solving) that means my approach to a problem usually involves a totally whack solution. Normal 'dyslexic' (which is what it is) techniques don't work because it took so long to discover and by that time, I had whack solutions. Give me mental arithmetic though and I crumble, even though I know how to do it.

I'm not saying there is genius, but many true genuises exist in their own logical extractions. Idiosyncracy is a trait and I honestly believe that we don't accomodate these ways of working well.

Modern musical genius? Merzbow. Total brilliance
 
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