Mimi responds:

>So, Bernard - Yes!  It is better to play than not to play an instrument.
>It is better to be good at it than to be weak.  It is better to sing than
>be silent.  It is better to sing in tune than out of tune.  It is better
>to know how to read music than to be a musical illiterate.  It is better
>to read books about music than to learn about music history from Hollywood
>movies.  Knowing about music this way can only make your listening
>experiences more vivid.  Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

Well there is no debate that it it is better to play than not to play.
I think that there are lots of people doing it today - more per capita
than in the good old days.(I am in touch with people who might clarify the
history of this business, for what it is worth.) And by the way, I bake a
very good bread without benefit of bread machines.  So you are preaching to
the converted.  I also have sung in choruses.  The main point is:  are we
(we happy few!!!) willing to give up recorded music? THAT would FORCE
people to play if they wanted to hear.

I didn't think so, Mimi.  And let me point out that in common with other
technologies, recorded music, not an unmixed blessing, extendes our range
mightly just as jet planes and interstate highways extend our range- at a
cost.  I know that you are not lying Mimi, you just might try turning down
the patronization intensity just a tad.

Professor Bernard Chasan