Technique and Composition in Music

That I might satisfy some unrest amongst my peers, what follows is the difference between technical ability and compositional ability in music, and how they interact with one another.

Technical ability is one’s ability to play different notes, rhythms, and other musical devices with ease, fluidity and accuracy. Technical skills are acquired primarily through the practice of etudes, scales, and rhythmic exercises designed to improve one’s playing ability. Examples of technical abilities include playing a series of notes quickly, learning to stretch one’s hand to attain certain tones, building up wrist strength to perform one-handed drum rolls, etc.

Compositional ability is when a musician understands either by theory or by intuition how to assemble tones and rhythms into a pleasing sequence. Composition is not limited by technical ability, in that a composer may imagine that which he cannot play - it is limited only by imagination.

These two facets of music are virtually unlimited, but must be combined to achieve any sort of recognition. Technical ability alone is soul-less, whereas composition is meaningless without the means to play it. Even if one possesses only one, and makes use of another’s skill, the best musicians make use of both to the best of their ability, and work very hard to increase that ability.