The band Lindsey Buckingham called as good as America’s greatest: “On that level”
Very often, musical greatness is something that you have to work hard to achieve, but in the most special instances, it’s something that comes completely naturally, as though rock stardom was something the artist was destined for.
In a number of instances, there exists a divide between those who have tirelessly strived to be the best at their craft and learn everything the traditional way and those who come to it instinctively. Simply put, there’s a sneering sense of superiority from those who are trained, and they often find themselves looking down on those who have no formal musical experience as having got lucky.
But in reality, is there a right or wrong way to do things? There are obvious benefits to learning things by the book, but having talent come to you naturally ought to be valued just as much, even if it makes it hard for the two parties to work together, given their vastly different approaches to the same craft.
For Lindsey Buckingham, he spent a large portion of his career in Fleetwood Mac surrounded by people who were evidently good at what they did, but only alongside one member with any formal musical training in Christine McVie. Of course, this didn’t work against him or any of the others who had made it as successful self-taught musicians, and their status as one of the most beloved rock bands of all time ought to demonstrate that there is no real difference between having formal training and no training at all.
That being said, many of the people that Buckingham claims to have admired in his early life were those who had a genuine musical background. These people who informed his earliest interest in music were not self-taught geniuses, but ones who had rigorously studied how to make music of the highest order. During a 1992 interview with BAM Magazine, he revealed that being introduced to the score of the 1959 musical South Pacific opened up an entire world of composition to him and that he was inspired to pursue music as a result of this interest.
“I don’t know if you’d call them roots, but that was some of the first stuff I heard,” he recalled. “In the early ’50s, before Elvis hit, that’s exactly what parents were listening to. But those songs really were great, and they hold up so well”.
“Writers like Rodgers & Hammerstein and George Gershwin really knew what they were doing.”
However, he did then concede that despite these being the greatest songwriters who ever lived, and who had the benefit of formal musical education, there was one major exception to the rule, who he thought stood alongside them and challenged the notion that you have to have this level of experience in order to excel.
“Really, when you get down to it, the Beatles, and maybe just a few other artists from that time, were the exception of someone who could do something on that level without having to train to do it,” he added.
It clearly doesn’t matter either way, and let’s be perfectly honest, Buckingham’s work never suffered from the fact that he didn’t have any formal training. Good work is good work, and whether it’s the scores of Rodgers & Hammerstein, The Beatles, or Fleetwood Mac, the level of musical know-how never seemed to help or hinder any of them more than the other.
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