# Are you an expert in classical music?



## CDs (May 2, 2016)

I by no means am an expert in classical music. I would say I know more about classical music than the average person but I'm far far from ever being called "an expert" or ever calling myself one. I would say I'm still in the advanced beginner stage. 
What about you?


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I still divide my time between post-rock, heavier rock and classical music (with bits of folk and reggae thrown in) so I don't give classical music my undivided attention throughout the week. This has always been the case so I'm not quite sure where my classical knowledge stands me. Tbh, I dont really care. I listen to what I listen to. However, I try to learn as much as I can about classical music.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

I'd place myself on the lower end when it comes to broad experience and technical savvy - but I know what I like, and to a large extent I am able to articulate _why I like it_ in musical terms.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I don't know enough about music theory to consider myself an expert. However, I know what I like and that's all I need to be a happy classical camper.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I am not an expert in anything and have no plans to be. I take enough abuse already.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I consider myself a sophisticated listener. An expert? Not sure what that entails.

In the top 1% of TC pithy posters. My dog helped me with that one. Ruff estimate.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

*"I'll tell you, better than I was 30 years ago."

*


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

YES i study it for years & i took a college course on music with a music elective in high school.I first heard classical music in school.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Totenfeier said:


> I'd place myself on the lower end when it comes to broad experience and technical savvy - but I know what I like, and to a large extent I am able to articulate _why I like it_ in musical terms.


That's what I was trying to say in my ham-fisted way.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

I guess some of the most highly regarded musicians in history come closest to being considered experts. Purely among listeners or "appreciators", it's hard to imagine expert when so much that's so subjective occupies so large a space.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

I'm not an expert but I'd say I'm reasonably well informed.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

The only thing I need to be expert at is placating my wife.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

No. But we have many members who think they are.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Merl said:


> That's what I was trying to say in my ham-fisted way.


Thank you, kind friend! Get some brown mustard on that ham, wrap it in rye, take it in your hand and it's all good!:tiphat:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

An expert? Who knows? I'm at least as well-informed as the failing New York Times, I guess.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

No, no expertise at all. I have ears, emotions, thoughts, listening experience and opinions, however.


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## ShropshireMoose (Sep 2, 2013)

Would I want to be an expert? I remember one of our weekly guest lectures at drama school in which the lecturer began, "People say I'm an expert, but what is an expert? Well, an ex is a has-been and a spurt's a drip of water under pressure!" So maybe not!!


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Yes....professional symphony/chamber musician for c. 50 years.


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## Überstürzter Neumann (Jan 1, 2014)

No I am not. I never received any formal education in music and can just call myself a proud dilletant.


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## Sol Invictus (Sep 17, 2016)

Forgive me but I kind of don't like the term expert as it applies to classical music. Its like saying "history expert" or "science expert". It's too specific for a topic as broad as classical music.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

What constitutes an expert in Classical Music? Is it knowing a good deal about different composers and their lives? Is it about reading music? Is it specifically understanding about composition and things like Sonata Form, Harmony, etc.?

I know lots of random facts and dates and such about a bunch of different composers, but I know almost nothing about modern ones. I can read and play music but I can't just pick up a score and hear all the parts together in my head like Salieri does in the film Amadeus without ever having heard it before. I understand the principles of Harmony and Music Theory and Composition but I don't have a degree in it. I have literally 10's of thousands of recordings, but I will always be the first to tell you I know nothing about modern composers or very early music. 

I don't think of myself as an expert on any of it. I recommend lots of different recordings based upon my years of listening and large collection, but in the end I know it might not be what the person is looking for and they may have no connection to the work or the recording at all. Everybody is different so I can't really consider myself an expert in anything other than myself I guess.


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## Rys (Nov 26, 2016)

No, music is a hobby, so I'm no expert.:tiphat:


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> No. But we have many members who think they are.


There you go again - another cute swipe at the membership.


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## NorthernHarrier (Mar 1, 2017)

No, but I've learned a lot from the other contributors to this forum.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Definitely not an expert, far from it! Make lot's of mistakes but gradually have learnt more since I took it up seriously three years ago!


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I'm supposed to be an expert, but I know there is much, much more to learn.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

I am but a student of classical music and have been for many years. I could never consider myself an expert.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. Or in this case, in the land of the deaf, the man with one ear is king. Among my friends who know nothing, I am king, they think of me as the musical expert. But here on TC, I'm no expert. Here on TC, I'm a novice listener.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

The quest to deepen my understanding of classical music is a lifelong journey for me. Expertise is a goal that I continue to work towards, every day, and I am constantly reminded of how much there is to discover and learn. Every time that I log onto TC, I come across posts that discuss composers I have never heard of, and recordings I have never heard of, as well as new perspectives on familiar pieces. I am delighted to be professionally involved with a field of study - classical music - that is infinite and inexhaustible!!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Interesting topic. I have lots of listening experience, some experience in theory, but no interest in putting both together. The former is fun, the later is boring, and a great divide in between.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I heard someone say if you read three books about a subject, you're an expert. I've read at least four.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

Manxfeeder said:


> I heard someone say if you read three books about a subject, you're an expert. I've read at least four.


Comic books don't count.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

CDs said:


> Comic books don't count.


If we are expected to accept all sound as music, then we also have to accept all printed matter as books.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

In answer to the original OP - no. I'm no academic nor am I a seasoned enthusiast who has the smarts to bandy words, but I do relish the opportunity to put my headphones on and wallow in my own blissful ignorance for hours on end.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I'm not an expert in the sense of my music professor. But I am an admirer of Classical music that makes me aware of what I do and don't know.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Nope. Always learning.

I am not an expert in music theory. I am apparently reliable at recognizing and determining the emotional and/or conceptual content and the merits of a work on its own and in relation to others (within my criteria). A rather subjective endeavor so it's difficult to pin any sort of expertise on such a "skill". I have assimilated a lot of Classical, but more Rock, Jazz, Paintings/Visual Art and Film. But what does that make me? An artistic swiss army knife of sorts?

I was in a very amateur garage rock band in high school that was derivative of Nirvana and Live (of Throwing Copper fame) and we made some (bad) recordings for friends. As a joke, I once recorded a ridiculous, satirical rap album with some friends (one of whom could actually rap) where we managed to get a professional guest singer to record some of the choruses with us. We called our disasterpiece "Gangsta Bitch Casserole". Despite being a one-off joke, it actually drew some interest from a record producer. It was at that point that I moved on quickly as I'll be damned if I was ever going to seriously pursue such a career. Excuse my political incorrectness, but I am way too, ahem, ______ [insert your choice of non-color here] for such a career. I was just fooling around, throwing together silly puns and lyrics, copying various beats together and rapping like some absurd combination of Weird Al Yankovic and Busta Rhymes. Anyway, does that count?


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

AfterHours said:


> Nope. Always learning.
> 
> I am not an expert in music theory. I am apparently reliable at recognizing and determining the emotional and/or conceptual content and the merits of a work on its own and in relation to others (within my criteria). A rather subjective endeavor so it's difficult to pin any sort of expertise on such a "skill". I have assimilated a lot of Classical, but more Rock, Jazz, Paintings/Visual Art and Film. *But what does that make me? An artistic swiss army knife of sorts?*


LOL  Love that imagery


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Among my friends, I'm the foremost expert. On this site, I'm an amateur at best. I feel like I have a fairly expansive collection (especially for only being 20), and I know some music theory and some history of classical music. So I'm above average, but I'm no expert.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Haydn67 said:


> I guess some of the most highly regarded musicians in history come closest to being considered experts. Purely among listeners or "appreciators", it's hard to imagine expert when so much that's so subjective occupies so large a space.


Post of the day!!!!!!


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

hpowders said:


> An expert? Not sure what that entails.


*X = an unknown quantity, SPURT = a drip under pressure.*


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

senza sordino said:


> In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. Or in this case, in the land of the deaf, the man with one ear is king. Among my friends who know nothing, I am king, they think of me as the musical expert. But here on TC, I'm no expert. Here on TC, I'm a novice listener.


nicely put.

It's hard to not feel like an expert sometimes when surrounded by people who know virtually nothing of classical music. Compared to most TC members however, I think my knowledge is quite limited indeed.

Apart from that expertise is something I associate with professional people. So knowing this and that about this or that composer or piece of music doesn't really make someone an expert. Being a full-time professional for 10 or 20 years might get you there.

But there's no law against pretending to be an expert and upsetting the real (or so called) experts. That's the whole point of T.C. no?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I'm the world's leading classical music expert on the specialized subject of my personal taste.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Art Rock said:


> I'm the world's leading classical music expert on the specialized subject of my personal taste.


Is there more or less a general consensus on that subject or should we speak more of a field of scattered controversial theories?


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## Guest (Apr 29, 2017)

arpeggio said:


> No. But we have many members who think they are.


Well me for one. An expert. Definitely


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I know when I've got A flat on the Minor


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

An expert? Not even close! 

As I only turned properly to classical music five years ago, I never can be an expert. 
Luckily I don't aspire to be. It's much more fun being a Learner and always getting surprised as I try things new to me that everyone else has known about for decades. It's nice too that so many kind people at TC have been able to help me by recommending music.

And it is also much safer admitting my ignorance and running like H**l when there's a contentious thread and someone goes for me.

I admit I *would* like to become an expert on *the Golden Age of Scottish Fiddle Music*. 
It doesn't seem likely that I'll ever reach this goal, but to paraphrase what Louis Armstrong is reputed to have replied to the Pope when asked if he had any children, it will be fun trying.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

I have significant musical skills, practical and esoteric and a good general knowledge of classical music from the Medieval Era through the 20thc. I've done professional work in classical music in more than a handful of capacities, from teaching undergraduate and graduate courses to proofreading editions for major orchestras. I once pissed off Valery Gergiev by correcting about 200 errors in the edition he was using for a not so famous Tchaikovsky opera, one whose parts might have been used at the premiere and were apparently never given a good once over. When he demanded an explanation for all the unfamiliar notes and harmonies, my boss said "It's called proofreading. You're welcome."


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Good news: My expert badge is in the mail. 

Bad news: It's coming United States Postal Service instead of FedEx.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Classical music is a huge field...there is always more to learn....like astronomy or medicine....there is no limit to the knowledge to be gained....in strictly musical terms....reed-making might provide a microcosmic view....bassoonists, oboists spend years and years learning to make reeds..it is indeed an art form....one may become an "expert", achieving excellent results, consistently....however, there is always something more...an improvement, new process, new adjustment, fresh approach....as with music as a whole, it's an ongoing process that never ends. There's always more to learn.


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## Jacred (Jan 14, 2017)

Pfft!--hardly. But I'd like to get closer to being one, if even a bit. That's why I'm here.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Sadly the only thing I'm somewhat of an expert on is some very specific job related (non-music) legal stuff. Soooo boring compared to music. But what do you do....


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

As I am with science/math and a number of other disparate disciplines, I am a well-educated layperson.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DeepR said:


> Sadly the only thing I'm somewhat of an expert on is some very specific job related (non-music) legal stuff. Soooo boring compared to music. But what do you do....


Not much, bill's to be paid an that.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

No one is an expert in classical music. If someone claims to be, it's a lie!


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## ibrahim (Apr 29, 2017)

Alas, far from it, though I find the journey of learning to be really pleasurable. I've heard 2 of Robert Greenberg's "Great Courses" classes (one "How to listen to and understand great music" and the other "The string quartets of Beethoven") through Audible.com, and what a marvelous teacher and classical music enthusiast that guy is.  

I do hope to one day develop some technical skills though -- like the ability to follow a work along with the score. So aside from knowledge of some baroque and classical era forms (passacaglia, canon, fugue, sonata-allegro form, theme and variations etc) my technical knowledge is limited.

So I resent music writing that goes along the lines of "and in this passage he drops from D major to B flat which resolves the tension blah blah." what are you on about mate? :lol:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

The only thing I'm an expert in is being bald and unattractive to Japanese women.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Gordontrek said:


> No one is an expert in classical music. If someone claims to be, it's a lie!


Do you mean no one has expertise? Do you define "expert" in some other way than being a person with expertise? In short, what are you talking about?


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Expert is a spurt under pressure


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

As others have mentioned, "classical music" is an enormous field.

Specific to the piano repertoire though, I would say that I am as expert as anyone.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

What I don't know about music fills whole libraries.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

EdwardBast said:


> Do you mean no one has expertise? Do you define "expert" in some other way than being a person with expertise? In short, what are you talking about?


I don't know! I'm not an expert in knowing what I'm talking about.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

What I don't know about libraries fills whole music.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> What I don't know about libraries fills whole music.


Yes. You are completely un-koala-fied.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Yes. You are completely un-koala-fied.


Yeah, how much can a Wallaby bear or a goanna


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I got my "TC EXPERT" button in the mail.

So I was walking proudly down the street with it on my shirt.

I got arrested by immigration agents.

The button mistakenly read "TC EXPORT" which the agents told me in code meant Trump-Considered Illegal Immigrant.

I will let you all know if the chicken in mole sauce from Mexico City is as good as it is in US Mexican restaurants.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Gordontrek said:


> No one is an expert in classical music. If someone claims to be, it's a lie!


It's not just my claim. I have a button.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Expert is a spurt under pressure





Dan Ante said:


> *X = an unknown quantity, SPURT = a drip under pressure.*


Trust an Aussie to stuff it up :lol:


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

The terms that I would be suspicious of are "expert critic". I do come across that in visual arts.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Dan Ante said:


> Trust an Aussie to stuff it up :lol:


Trust a Kiwi to be pedantic


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Trust a Kiwi to be pedantic


Perhaps between the two of us we could pedantically stuff everything up.:cheers::cheers:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

ArtMusic said:


> The terms that I would be suspicious of are "expert critic". I do come across that in visual arts.


Amen to this..............


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I would see absolutely no reason to _not_ call myself an expert in classical music to a man on the street.
I would see absolutely no reason to call myself such a thing _here at TC_, where I'm at the bottom of the barrel!


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Xaltotun said:


> I would see absolutely no reason to _not_ call myself an expert in classical music to a man on the street.
> I would see absolutely no reason to call myself such a thing _here at TC_, where I'm at the bottom of the barrel!


Bingo. It's kind of like absolute pitch- the layman thinks it's this ultra rare superpower that a select few people have. Well among people in general it's pretty rare but among musicians, not near as much.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

TurnaboutVox said:


> No, no expertise at all. I have ears, emotions, thoughts, listening experience and opinions, however.


Same here. I make no claim to being an expert in anything as the more that I learn, the more I realise how little I know (about any topic). Many of the 'experts' that I come across in my professional life would squirm somewhat uncomfortably if called an 'expert'.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I'm supposed to be an expert, but I know there is much, much more to learn.


Yup - here is someone who is acknowledged by others but recognises the limitations of their knowledge. I admire such people! :tiphat:


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

I am reminded of a post made quite a while ago when a member posted that she could pick up any instrument and within a day had mastered it, that is the type of expert we read of on forums.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Actually I really am an expert, on "Recuerdos de la Alhambra" especially.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Dan Ante said:


> I am reminded of a post made quite a while ago when a member posted that she could pick up any instrument and within a day had mastered it, that is the type of expert we read of on forums.


In fairness, the member in question works in a kazoo factory.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

The term expert is a bit useless in my opinion. I am knowledgeable about music, and in particular, classical music, but understand there is always something to learn and chatting with other knowledgeable people can provide new perspectives which is fun!


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

CDs said:


> *Are you an expert in classical music?*


No ... but I did just save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico . . .


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

The more you know the more you realise you don't know.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Dan Ante said:


> The more you know the more you realise you don't know.


This one is for Wise saying an meanings wanted thread.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

I like being just an explorer and consumer of CM.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I must profess to being an expert on the largerphone, with my particular speciality the Guiness bottle tops version................ Has a sweeter sound!


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Though I'm not a musicologist or anything like that, I feel like I am somewhat of an expert with certain composers whose music I know quite well: Prokofiev, Bartok, John Adams, and to a lesser extent Messaien, Hindemith, Samuel Barber, Sibelius


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Lenny said:


> I like being just an explorer and consumer of CM.


And still doing that, every day.:angel:


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

SONNET CLV said:


> No ... but I did just save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico . . .


Did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express?


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

I am an expert on how I feel about the music I listen to.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I think after a number of years and hundreds of hours of listening, I can say I'm an expert on Russian classical music. Not _all _Russian music (still so many gaps which I'm slowly remedying!) but I can discuss at length about the top-tier composers, the 2nd-tier composers, and others. I can give plenty of recommendations for many genres (even chamber music, which is my weakness). And well, I just know a lot about them as people, their attitudes toward the purpose of music in Russia and in the rest of the world, and their interactions with each other.


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

ibrahim said:


> I've heard 2 of Robert Greenberg's "Great Courses" classes (one "How to listen to and understand great music" and the other "The string quartets of Beethoven") through Audible.com, and what a marvelous teacher and classical music enthusiast that guy is.


I am very interested in the Beethoven String Quartets course from The Great Courses. I am encouraged that you like it.

I have listened to a Guarneri Quartet recording for many years, and I just ordered the Takacs Quartet box set. Also, somewhere in one of the great piles I have a Dover edition of the scores.

I was thinking of getting the course. It sounds like a lot of fun.


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## Armanvd (Jan 17, 2017)

No, But I've Been Learning Music For Almost A Year Now. That's What Matters To Me.
"For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business." 
- T.S. Eliot


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I think after a number of years and hundreds of hours of listening, I can say I'm an expert on Russian classical music. Not _all _Russian music (still so many gaps which I'm slowly remedying!) but I can discuss at length about the top-tier composers, the 2nd-tier composers, and others. I can give plenty of recommendations for many genres (even chamber music, which is my weakness). And well, I just know a lot about them as people, their attitudes toward the purpose of music in Russia and in the rest of the world, and their interactions with each other.


You definitely are an expert on Russian music! I am so impressed with your passionate, detailed and eloquent posts about Russian music - the styles, politics, biographies, and influences. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with everyone on TC; you've opened my ears to many aspects of Russian music that I had never noticed before.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I'd never call myself an expert in anything. It's risky calling yourself an expert. It's better to wait until other people start agreeing that you're an expert, then at least you know they think you know more than they do...


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

eugeneonagain said:


> I'd never call myself an expert in anything. It's risky calling yourself an expert. It's better to wait until other people start agreeing that you're an expert, then at least you know they think you know more than they do...


Then they call you a big head eh


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

I am a complete novice. I hope that in 30 years this will have changed, perhaps an intermediate novice by then.


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

I take heart in that the more you know, the more there is to know. 

So an "expert" does not know a greater percentage of all there is to know on the topic. The expert is, in many ways the most ignorant, because the expert has uncovered more and larger fields of inquiry yet to be explored. The real expert is, or should be, humbled by his ignorance.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

JeffD said:


> I take heart in that the more you know, the more there is to know.
> So an "expert" does not know a greater percentage of all there is to know on the topic. The expert is, in many ways the most ignorant, because the expert has uncovered more and larger fields of inquiry yet to be explored. The real expert is, or should be, humbled by his ignorance.


Yes, the more you learn, the more you know, the more you realize how much more there is to learn, how much more there is that you do not know.


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## Brucknerphile (Sep 5, 2018)

Not an "expert" on classical music although I have been listening for about 64 years and always learning and appreciating it more and more.

I had a really nerdy phase where I would show off by naming the symphony composer and symphony number and what movement the piece was. I did not get to the place where I could name the conductor and orchestra and other such trivia but classical music, especially huge orchestral music, for me satisfies my hunger for lush sound.

What is nice is that I am going back to some of the standard rep after a hiatus of almost 25 years listening with more "maturity" in listening to pieces whatever that means. 

I just ran into the book "The Ring of Truth" and found it fantastic; it's a really heavy read but it rewards with slow careful reading. Because of it I have started to really immerse myself into Wagner's Ring after first listening to it during grad school 40(gasp!) years ago. Just got the Solti Ring--

:IVERSION HERE::I actually met him some years ago when I worked for WNET PBS television as a video editor/tech. In my work I had to display Charlie Rose's introduction as a cue card on a camera so the host could read the intro before he interviewed Solti. After the recording session I approached the Maestro and asked him to sign the script which I still have. He was very courteous and right after signing looked around and said, "How do I get out of here." He was concerned because he was at that moment totally neglected because the camera persons and stage crew was far more excited helping to bring the Stanley Cup (yes! the real actual Stanley Cup!!) into the studio for Charlie"s interview with the team of winners. I am such a nerd that I don't know who the team was but it was in the late 80s/early 90s so those who know hockey can help place the team. I really really wish that I had a camera at the moment that Solti went through the big studio doors which were opened to let this giant piece of trophyware into the studio. For just an instant Solti gazed up at the top of the trophy with a look of--"I know this is something to look at but what is it really." I wish that the photographer WeeGee was there. He would have captured the moment exactly right. Nevertheless it was a great moment for me.

::END OF DIVERSION::To pick up, I just got the Solti Ring and am following along with scores in lap and am lost in the overwhelming presence all this orchestral drama and myth. I have some years of real in depth experience in store and find it really exciting.

I apologize for this long name dropping digression about some of the other aspects of classical music. I still have Solti's signature and am considering framing it with an explanation that my kids might appreciate in the future. I should explain that I do not hunt autographs but this was an opportunity dropped into my lap.

The upshot is that I take great pride in what I know about classical music and realize that there is so, so much more to learn and know. I guess that I need to live to the age of 300 or so just to get a really good start.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

^ Great post Brucknerphile! You are correct there is SO much to learn and know about classical music. But I'm enjoying my musical learning journey everyday!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

My father used to say - almost daily, it seemed - that the first sign that you know something about a subject is that you realise how little you know about it. I find it true.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I played cornet in grade school, have been a singer since junior high school, sang in chorus in high school and college and have sung in choral societies and church choir all my life. I am 67 years of age with a November birthday. 

When reading music I need help reading pitch indicators, am principally self-taught, read scores in church choir, and have read the complicated orchestral & choral scores for Handel's Messiah, Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. I have tinnitus but a good ear and pitch. I am not the greatest reading a complex orchestral score such as a Mahler symphony, especially one with choral and orchestral parts such as the third or eighth symphonies. But I can follow any score like a road map.

I would say I am ahead of most people that only listen to music and don't perform it but far behind those that perform music regularly in an orchestra. 

I have also been a critic for several publications, have written over 1,000 reviews of classical music and other stuff on Amazon and elsewhere, was twice offered to write criticism for Fanfare magazine and once for an online vendor.

I am unsure if any of this makes me an "expert" but it probably puts me ahead of some people. In my mind an expert is someone that reads the score to everything s/he performs, writes or talks about, understand the score, and knows what is right and wrong when listening by comparing it to the score. That is more than I think most people do and more than most critics do.

There is no such thing as "expert" opinion, however, when it comes to deciding if one performance is better than another. People that know a great deal about music have biases, like the rest of us, and they show in their reviews. Like they say, opinions are like ears -- everyone has two of them.


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## Ras (Oct 6, 2017)

>>*Are you an expert in classical music? *<<

Certainly not - look at my signature from a Leonard Cohen poem:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I prefer to say I'm knowledgable about things, claiming expertise seems to imply no further learning can be had, at least in how we use the term today. There is always something to learn.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

expert (pr: ex-spurt)
ex = a has-been
spurt = a drip under pressure

ergo an expert is a has-been drip under pressure

...however I claim no expertise in these matters.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

I would never use the word "expert" ("sexpert" sounds far more interesting lol) - I'll leave that to the professionals and the musicologists and the historians who like to dig through musty tomes going back centuries and are fortunate enough to get _paid_ for it because they're doing it _full_-_time_... But I _would_ consider myself a "dedicated maverick & enthusiast" whose curiosity remains open... I happen to distrust the "experts" because they may be great in accumulating facts and figures and knowledge and background, but they might not be so great in drawing conclusions that I happen to agree with about aesthetic considerations and interpretations, whether it's de la Grange on Mahler, or another "expert" who thinks that Andrea Luchesi wrote some of Mozart's best works, anonymously of course. Plus the "expert" is also subject to the peer pressures from his or her colleagues and I happen to like making up my own facts -- saves time! Lol... It's far better to be a maverick rather than a sexpert and try to see deeper into life and art than the professional experts do.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Among many of the people I know in real life, I'm a bit of an expert. Among people here on Talk Classical I'm a novice. 

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

Becca said:


> expert (pr: ex-spurt)
> ex = a has-been
> spurt = a drip under pressure
> 
> ...


I really wish you lot would get it right:

X is an unknown quantity. Spurt is a drip under pressure.


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## Rach Man (Aug 2, 2016)

I am an expert on what I like to listen to, except when I don't.

Then Amazon.com will send me an e-mail with a suggestion to let me know what I want to listen to. :lol:


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

I'm far from an expert in the subject of classical music. I consider myself a gleeful poseur, too ready to share my opinions.


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## Sun Junqing (Sep 26, 2018)

yes I think so....but there is no meaning of being an expert here


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I'm an expert loafer and procrastinator. As far as music is concerned, I know all the names, I've listened to a lot of stuff, but I have no deep knowledge. For that you'll have to look to Woodduck, DarkAngel, or some of the other TC musical sages.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Experts get a bad press. There are research findings in economics showing that they are no better at predicting outcomes than the average person. I may have that wrong as I only half remember it. But as a layman I can claim that whatever I like is true and that my truth is every bit as good as anyone else's! 

There is a lot I don't know about music .... and I suspect there is a lot I don't even know about my taste in music. I do not think I could even say "I know what I like" because it wouldn't be true about tomorrow.


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