The responses to the original "Your Most Useful Music Making Tools" question represented perhaps four groups of people.

1. People at all skill levels who are involved in generating music by electronic means.
2. Professional musicians who are currently playing paying gigs are they have done so in the past.
3. University graduates with a degree in music or self-educated people with the same
level of understanding.
4. People who are in the beginning processes of trying to figure out if they want to put in the hours
of hard work necessary to become proficient in the skills needed to do any of the above well.

The survey reflected that this site's first group is the most prevalent.

For me personally, I have been studying music theory from day one. The piano was instrumental in understanding chord formation, interval training, and many other theoretical things.

All those so-called tools were only marginally helpful in learning to make music.

I learned to play and make music on stage live with several highly qualified professionals who showed me what to do.

The software is a two-bladed sword. Every hour you spend messing around with software is an hour you do not have a musical instrument in your hand to learn to play better.

What you need to do and the level of skill required as a musician is a function of where and what you will be required to perform to.

You can not play for the Boston Pops if you can not read and are not an educated musician. You can play in a bar with very little skill and knowledge.

How people think about all this is frequently related to age and when they first started to learn to play. It may seem like the Internet has been around forever if you are young.

One of the disturbing facts of life is that it takes about 7000 hours of dedicated study to become truly proficient at playing a musical instrument, flying an airplane, and almost anything challenging.

There are presently two ways to make music. One through software and the other by playing a musical instrument. Neither one is at all easy to master.

Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”