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I have not been on this site for long, and I may not be the best judge as to what belongs on the site, but should we welcome contributions like this answer? (Part of the problem is of course that the question itself is quite broad and vague.)

As far as I know, the aim of this site is to give practical and objective advice, and this answer reads more like a pseudo-spiritual motivational speech.

The use of rhetorical devices such as:

Live, live, live. Love, love, love.

is probably indication enough that this is not a practical answer, but a speech or a rant. Or does repeating words three times actually provide additional meaning?

EDIT: I think I identified what rubbed me the wrong way about this answer: it does nothing to demystify the process of becoming a musician or the act of making music. On the contrary, it reinforces stereotypes about suffering for art and pouring your soul into your music. I don't think these romanticized ideas are particularly helpful to a beginning musician, and they surely don't offer any actionable advice.

EDIT: The answer has now been expanded to contain more specific and practical advice, after someone requested that in a comment. I don't think it's quite so problematic anymore.

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  • Remember you can flag or down vote – Doktor Mayhem♦ Apr 20 '19 at 20:42
  • To me, that answer is completely practical and objective advice. – Todd Wilcox Apr 20 '19 at 20:57
  • @DoktorMayhem On Stack Overflow it would be an easy call, but this site is about art, not science, and being a musician indeed has psychological aspects, so I don't know how strict this site is about answers having to be practical. – Your Uncle Bob Apr 20 '19 at 20:58
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    @ToddWilcox The asker's comment under the answer suggests that he was looking for more practical suggestions about what aspects of music to devote more time to and which music to study. – Your Uncle Bob Apr 20 '19 at 21:07
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I'm not a personal fan of this answer myself, but I think we do have to give a little consideration to the fact that the question was edited after the answer was posted. The answer did sort of answer the original question (as difficult as it was to decipher). That said, even on this kind of question, I'd much rather this were posted as a comment.

However, it could be argued that this does cover the mental/psychological aspect of being a musician. For that reason, I hesitate to downvote or flag as a non-answer. For certain, if the user in question doesn't update the answer to fit the current question, I'll have no qualms about a flag for the deletion queue.

As of right now, I'll wait to see how this plays out.

Edit: The answer's been edited, and now I think it's alright for sure.

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  • The answer has now been expanded. – Your Uncle Bob Apr 21 '19 at 20:04

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