Music and Advantageous Functions

[augmented]

I know there are obviously music gods of every type, and that musical talent doesn't necessarily relate to type...but it seems like it should. As an Ne-dominant whose primary focus is music, i feel like i have a huge advantage in inventing and improvising by seeing weird new possibilities in music, and through Ti i can get an understanding of my entire musical thought system or whatever. but maybe Ses have a good attention to detail so it might work better for like chamber music or something? i'm not sure, does anyone have any take on this matter. are certain functions necessary for musical prowess?

 

[redacted]

sensing would be necessary to hear how new input compares to the piece so far.

(having a good ear is S)

 

[Snail]

I'm a INFP musician/songwriter and I feel that my ability most likely comes from the F, which allows me to easily judge whether something sounds pleasant or unpleasant and whether it is more expressive/less expressive, more beautiful/less beautiful, and more interesting/less interesting than other possible sound combinations. The N allows me to make the music meaningful and correlate the sounds with the feelings they are supposed to represent. It would probably work this way for a T, also, because any strong judging process allows for the ability to determine whether a creative idea is interesting. NT music would probably sound somewhat similar to NF music, and from my experience with friends from both temperament categories, I find that they tend to have similar preferences when listening to music. NTs and NFs may like the same styles of music for different reasons, but what I find interesting is that they tend to like the same music at all when they are often so different about everything that actually matters.

Don't discount the musical capabilities of certain S types, because some of my most talented musical friends are SPs. Their music might not be as intentionally deep, but it can be just as emotionally potent. The meanings get worked in subconsciously and the music is capable of arousing very specific feelings in a communicative way. An ESFP drummer I almost dated could communicate his sexual desire for me with his music, building to a passionate climax of sound in such a way that it affected everyone in the room, and when I discussed it with him, he assured me that it wasn't intentional. He just happened to be fantasizing about me while playing and I felt it perfectly. The other male who was there (ENFP) was affected by the music like a sexual empath, but projected the lust onto me (a female) instead of the drummer (a male) to avoid homoerotic confusion, leaving me awkwardly sexually aroused in a room with two lust-crazed musicians who were both too pure to do what I was thinking about. (...so was I, actually. Curse my inhibitions!)

 

[Thursday]

my (Ni+Fe)allows me to mix several make genres and styles in one piece
making them coherent and cohesive with the the same underlying feeling tone

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

I think overall Ne is the function most adept at writing lyrics, while Se is the function most adept at creating melodies. I also think feelers are better at inserting emotional impact into their music. These are just tendencies though. I think there are talented people of every type.

 

[FDG]

I'm ENTJ, and Ni is perfect for creating different riffs and rythmics and melodies see how they can "flow" togheter. Te is perfect for evaluating how much energy music will transmit.

However, as far as lyrics go I'm completely clueless - and I do not even generally consider them when I'm listening to a piece of music.

I find Ni to be very useful in dancing too - I've always had a perfect sense of rythm.

 

[Splittet]

I think maybe Fi is the most important function in making music. Sometimes I think about Fi as artistic feeling. Strong Fi seems to give you the need to express your emotions, and you are very aware of them, making it easier to translate them. As far as Se and Ne goes, I think Se generally leads to an entertainment based approach to music, while Ne leads to an experimental approach. I theorize the best musicians are INFPs.

And I don't think Ss would have a better ear than Ns or so on. Music is a language. Do Ss understand language better than Ns? Isn't it actually opposite?

 

[redacted]

sensation, though, will automatically pick up notes that are off-key or off-beat.

i attribute much of my musical prowess to Se. (true for my brother augmented, too).

also, improvisation is largely sensation.

 

[Usehername]

My ISFJ high school band teacher who was way overqualified could hear a melody once and never (ever) forget how it went. He could also think for a moment and play it in any key on the piano. I also know an INTJ who can listen to anything and think for a moment and play it in any key on the piano.

 

[LucrativeSid]

I kick ass at improv. Is it Ne or just the fact that I'm willing to try, not caring if I totally screw up?

 

[Haphazard]

I kick ass at improv. Is it Ne or just the fact that I'm willing to try, not caring if I totally screw up?

The latter.

 

[Kleinheiko]

How I see it, the N type would probably be a more effective composer or director because they naturally see the piece as a whole. S types on the other hand would do better as the musicians themselves, working more in the small picture.

 

[miked277]

so music has two sides, the artistic creative side and the technical mechanical side.

the technical side is limited by physical ability and not type. as far as creativity, it can come from any type imo. yes there are certain types which are naturally more active in honing their creative skills but i would never say this or that type is not capable of creating a beautiful work of art, be it with paint brushes or musical instruments.

 

[Samuel De Mazarin]

How I see it, the N type would probably be a more effective composer or director because they naturally see the piece as a whole. S types on the other hand would do better as the musicians themselves, working more in the small picture.

Music composition is very difficult... particularly with classical and certain styles of jazz, or experimental rock, one has to have a very solid grasp on theory (even if it's not formal training) of harmony and rhythms... so N's and S' would both have to work their asses off to get there... in my opinion, it's not that certain types would be more effective composers or directors... it's the kind of composing or directing they end up doing that is more affected by their dominant function(s)... meaning, we can probably rack up thousands of N's and S's who all were excellent composers... so the argument doesn't stick... but could possibly find out revealing things about how they went about composing and how their musical ideas differ according to type.

 

[augmented]

sensation, though, will automatically pick up notes that are off-key or off-beat.

i attribute much of my musical prowess to Se. (true for my brother augmented, too).

also, improvisation is largely sensation.

but i'm not Se. that's the thing...i only identify at all with a sensation perspective when i'm listening to music, when i'm listening closely to certain riffs or drum fills. when it comes to having an entire song mapped out, chord change for chord change, hit for hit, i'm more accurate and faster than anyone i know, even though i'm an N. it seems like that skill should come from Se but it's not present anywhere else in my life.

with regards to improvisation, i'm pretty confident that Ne does all the work for me, that along with an extensive knowledge of theory and stuff. NeTi etc.

 

[redacted]

but i'm not Se. that's the thing...i only identify at all with a sensation perspective when i'm listening to music, when i'm listening closely to certain riffs or drum fills. when it comes to having an entire song mapped out, chord change for chord change, hit for hit, i'm more accurate and faster than anyone i know, even though i'm an N. it seems like that skill should come from Se but it's not present anywhere else in my life.

with regards to improvisation, i'm pretty confident that Ne does all the work for me, that along with an extensive knowledge of theory and stuff. NeTi etc.

yeah, that's your Si. Se and Si have a lot of overlap. as long as the input is important to the internal standard of sensing, Se and Si basically do the same thing in this regard.

 

[augmented]

so then you think i could be INTP?

 

[redacted]

it's quite possible.

but just because you're N dominant doesn't mean you can't have good S abilities. it just means you're less tuned to them and less in control of them.

(look at our mom [istj]; she has good ability with Ne, as you can tell with her word-game skill.)

 

[Kayin]

I know there are obviously music gods of every type, and that musical talent doesn't necessarily relate to type...but it seems like it should. As an Ne-dominant whose primary focus is music, i feel like i have a huge advantage in inventing and improvising by seeing weird new possibilities in music, and through Ti i can get an understanding of my entire musical thought system or whatever. but maybe Ses have a good attention to detail so it might work better for like chamber music or something? i'm not sure, does anyone have any take on this matter. are certain functions necessary for musical prowess?

I'm an ISTP and a primarily a jazz musician and I compose and improvise all the time. I can go very out there(out of the box) with my improve and composing and be very creative, I don't really think it has anything to do really with Ne.

I think maybe Fi is the most important function in making music. Sometimes I think about Fi as artistic feeling. Strong Fi seems to give you the need to express your emotions, and you are very aware of them, making it easier to translate them. As far as Se and Ne goes, I think Se generally leads to an entertainment based approach to music, while Ne leads to an experimental approach. I theorize the best musicians are INFPs.

And I don't think Ss would have a better ear than Ns or so on. Music is a language. Do Ss understand language better than Ns? Isn't it actually opposite?

I am able to put strong emotion into my playing and am In touch with my emotions but I do not have Strong Fi? How do you explain that?

What do you mean Se generally leads to entertainment based approach to music?

I experiment all the time, I'm into very modern, out of the box, out there things...

And lastly I'm an ISTP and I transcribe whole jazz solos all the time note for note by ear and memorize it, I don't write it down at all....... How does Ss not have a better ear then Ns?



I don't think talent with music has to do with personality traits at all......because from my experience being a professional musician/college student. Unless you can utilize other traits to do different tasks not normally meant for the trait, thats the only way to explain anything I just said.

 

[arcticangel02]

So, in other words, no. No function in particular gives one an advantage over another as far as music goes.