Hi all,
I don't play for others/parties/money etc, and I also don't think that someone pushing some buttons on an MP3 player and then singing along is a musician.

I read responses which (in my opinion) are divided into "profession" guys ("...I do whatever pleases/will please the audience....") and "artistic" guys ("....music in an art, I won't use any artificial backing or mp3's, everything is pure me, etc etc...".

Everyone here is a musician. The thing is to do whatever you can to please the particular group of people you are reffering to. Be adaptive. It doesn't matter if my sofa is built by a dextrous craftsman aided by 12 ethereal virgins and took 1 month to make, or it took maybe 3-4 hours to be built by murderous ex-convicts.

My back resting well sitting on the sofa I paid for, is all that matters.

If you can play an instrument you are a musician, if you can play it well you are a good musician, but if you make me happy doing that, I won't ask/care if you used mp3's or MIDI backing or Satan's own choir, I will simply ask for a phone number to invite you again, or refer you to others.

Just play to please the audience (every audience is different, and the audience's reactions will please you in return.

My 2 drachmas,
Theodore