I'm a singer-guitarist (some 40 years now) who gets embarrassed when people call me "musician". I always thought that if I ever managed to learn to read music and get to that magical level of being able to play anything in any key and "master" the fretboard, then I might see myself as musician. When folks say playing by ear is a genuine gift I take some solace in that, but I still marvel at others who can "read the dots" - just as long as they can make the transfer to the fingers in an emotion-moving way of course.

It's interesting and encouraging to see other people's interpretations though - with therapy I might just begin to see myself as "budding" musician!