# Which would you rather master, language or music? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2022, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275 "2022-08-08T00:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/41 "2022-08-08T21:12:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I could, even with my human limitations, have easily learned several more, or practiced those two to the point that I could get much better, but I haven’t, because being able to play musical instruments just isn’t that big a deal to me Yeah, I hear ya. I’m a programmer. Pretty good at math. My fingers are all in good shape. I should be able to pick this up. One of my very, very best friends really knows music theory. She has a trained voice. Ask for a G or any note and there it is. I can hear the bad note. But I guess I need a LOT more muscle memory. And practice, practice, practice to get that done. That’s what I should probably get away from. Playing by wrote memory. She and I have jammed on piano and guitar or banjo, but I can’t remember, or completely play an entire song to save my life. My problem is I’ll step away for a month because life gets in the way. And I have to continue to start from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/42 "2022-08-09T09:33:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And people talk big about music’s ability to communicate, but can you explain the steps for integration by parts using a flute solo? Or even just ask where the bathroom is, or answer someone who asks? Music is limited to a very specific sort of communication, while language gets it all. And mastery of an instrument, or even all instruments, doesn’t even get you much of music’s limited communication abilities: When your Italian grandmother weeps at your performance of Vivaldi, that’s mostly Vivaldi communicating to her, not you, and just as there is Google Translate now, there are also computerized tools that you can feed in a sheet of music and get out a MIDI-synthesized audio recording. I think music communicates in a way that’s completely different from language. [The province of music begins where language fails.](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/09/15/music-begins/) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/43 "2022-08-09T15:34:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I chose the languages, and it’s so obvious a choice for me that I’m amazed that music has over 40%. Huh. I picked music and pretty much thought the exact thing. Hell, If I could go the rest of my life without having to talk to more people, the better! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/44 "2022-08-09T15:53:17Z")
If I may hijack the thread a bit, the OP only mentioned “mastering music” in the sense of being able to play any instrument well, but said nothing about **composing**. Being a master of music composition would be a total gamechanger in a way that being a mere instrumentalist would not. You could be the next John Williams, have your creations be downloaded/purchased/listened to hundreds of millions of times, get Academy Award’d, etc. Top-notch musicians tend to be a dime a dozen (quick, name ten of the top classical pianists today!) but being a composer/creator of music is a whole other ball game. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/45 "2022-08-09T16:26:45Z")
In the OP, I was only thinking about playing instruments. Similarly, the language mastery did not include becoming the world’s greatest author. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/46 "2022-08-09T19:47:18Z")
In that case I’d pick music for a change of pace. My phone will do perfect translations in and out of any language before long. That will be good enough for me. My phone playing any instrument with existing music should be there already. But playing the music myself is different. I’ve just never been able to play a musical instrument well and that intrigues me. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/47 "2022-08-09T19:48:29Z")
I’m with you. Maybe it’s because I simply have never been able to get myself to learn an instrument. Being ‘masterful’ at playing music is something that genuinely brings joy to people, and I don’t get to do that. I remember the fun I had going to the local dive bar when I was in college, with the guy and his guitar up on stage playing requests from the audience. If I was a master instrumentalist, I could be that guy. I don’t need to be the next big star, I’d be happy just playing a song on the piano before dinner. Languages, I just don’t get a thrill out of. I suppose Squid Game would be better in the original Korean. Maybe Paris is more fun if you speak like a native, but millions of people love to visit the place without having that skill. Knowing what the Spanish speakers around town are saying isn’t likely to be any more thrilling than what the English speakers are saying. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275/48 "2022-08-10T04:23:36Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I can play piano, I’ve studied classical flute, I played trombone in high school band, and I sang in church choir for years, which required being able to read vocal music. I can play Celtic percussion. I can read music as easily as I can read words. But I have no need to learn to play tuba, or bassoon, or violin; nor do I want to. > > I speak English as my mother tongue, but I can also speak French and Russian. All have come in handy. And he can write, too! 🙂 (He taught me…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-would-you-rather-master-language-or-music/969275.md?page=2)