McGrath, I respect your comments and understand your disagreement with mine...and I admit I took a very tight interpretation of the word ''musician'' but, applied in a way that I relate to the term with I guess my own standard of the word..and of course there could be many who disagree. Your interpretation is much looser than mine, and so, I tend to disagree with you.

I am not a folkie, nor do I pretend to be. I don't listen to a lot of folk music. It just so happens that some of the styles of fingerpicking that I do, converge on some of the same styles that many well-known and traditional folk artists are credited for, in their performances. But I don't pretend to walk the walk and talk the talk, of the folk music world.

But, as I have personally walked the walk and talked the talk, of a professional musician, my standards of defining the word are more tightly focussed.

Just going to a store, buying a guitar, learning 4 or 5 chords on it, and a few tunes that encompass these chords, does NOT make one a musician.

Being a true musician is a state of mind, an attitude (as already mentioned previously in this thread) and perhaps a desire to be as good at it as you can. As well, you should have the ability to read music, transpose on the fly, and have enough versatility to ADAPT to almost any musical situation. You do not have to be a professional musician to aspire to these goals...but the best musicians I have ever known and played with have these abilities. But, if nothing else, if you can communicate and touch people on an emotional level with your playing, and performing, then that too I suppose would consititute a good musician.

If with this opinion, I exclude (unintentionally) a lot of the people who frequent this forum, then they would be taking my comments and opinions on the subject too personally...and perhaps if they do, a reality check is in order of their respective skills.

Contrary to my opinion, yours is obviously more in keeping with trying to include as many people as possible....but by doing so, you create a much looser standard. I guess that's what separates us in our respective opinions.

Somehow, I think Rick Fielding would know exactly what it is I'm trying to get across.