Exactly !!! I never said Chas was stupid. But I did think the statement was. Intelligent people do say things sometimes that can be perceived as such.

Roseanne Barr sang the National Anthem for the Superbowl on worldwide television to one of the largest audiences ever to watch television. So she must be one of the greatest musicians who ever walked the face of the Earth.

Nigel or another hi-tech person please start a poll to see who agrees with this statement and fix it so they that they have to sign their name and this way we will know who to take serious or who to ignore and laugh at in the future as "STUPID" eh?
Man this is more fun than I ever use to have with Dave.

Just to support the approach that the human singing voice is to be regarded as a musical instrument, I found a scientific paper about the voice as an example of the 'physics of musical instruments' (University of Regensburg).
http://www.physik.uni-regensburg.de/forschung/schwarz/Mechanik/MenschlicheStimme.pdf
Unfortunately, it's all in German, but I'll translate the introduction:
"The instrument of the voice is composed of three main components: an energy reservoir (the lungs), an oscillator (the vocal chords) and a resonating space."

Generally, I think the discussion got quite interesting, it's getting more philosophical so that the main goal is not to find a clear, final definition and "fix" it, but to get into a hermeneutic circle, in which you arrive at the same point of discussion again and again after a while, but on a slightly higher level of insight ;-)

Gosh, Boo. You were doing so well there for awhile .

chas El Stupido

So, Was the question this: Is a singer a musician?
Or this: Is the Voice a musical instrument?

Therefore, if you own a voice (a musical instrument)and can sing and this makes you a musician,

Then if you own a toilet and can take a crap in it, this has to confirm that you are definitely beyond the shadow of a doubt a plumber.

Hey I just realized I own a bunch of wrenches and tools, so I am definitely beyond the shadow of a doubt an auto mechanic, maybe an engineer, who knows there's zillions of possibilities, infiniti. I need to stop for a while and catch my breath.

If I buy Gary's sail boat then I'll be a sailor. No, I'll buy DonM's golf clubs then I'll be a pro golfer. Maybe I can drink what Dave drinks and then I will become crazy for redheads.

That's just about how stupid it is for a comment to be expressed that a vocalist who knows nothing about music other than the lyrics to a song is a musician. A vocalist who fits into this category isn't a pimple on a musician's A$$. HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Now this is the final word and settles the matter. So, why don't you shut this down Nigel?

You're loosing ground, Boo. Povaratti studied music for six years, his voice WAS HIS musical instrument, and he WAS a musician by every standard. If you bought my sailboat, and learned how to sail, you WOULD BE A SAILOR. If you joined the Navy, you would be a sailor, but probably couldn't sail a sailboat.

If you took a crap in a toilet, you would be a crapper, not a plumber. Like I said, you're loosing it! Go outside and shovel some snow, then come in and drink a tall, Green Coconut Margarette, take two aspirin and call me in the morning if you don't feel better.

Gary