I don't necessarily see it as a badge of honor, but rather as
something that opens possibilities. Does music "progress" only when
people play an increased number of notes per unit of time? Of course
not. What I appreciate are the *right* notes. If there are only a
few of them per unit time, then someone with a particular artistic
"vision" or sensibility could possibly play those notes at the right
time without much technique. Technique and mastery are certainly
important for doing some things--doing more difficult things, doing
things more reliably, doing them with authority--but I'll take vision
over mastery, if I had to choose one. (And happily for us all, there
are examples of people with both.)
>Do people on this List honestly buy or listen to cds on which non-musicians
>'perform'?
Well, sure. http://tisue.net/jandek/
Sometimes there's an element of drama that comes out of hearing
people struggle to realize their sensibilities, and when they hit it,
the hard-won-ness of it all can be quite thrilling.