Music scholars versus musicians

Today, many people compare between music scholars and musicians. Yes, they are different in the way of approaching music, and they have different ability to express music. But in my opinion, this is not a matter of comparison, because music has own the two aspects, the intellectual part and performing part. We must love music, and hear music with understanding. A student who has passion on music, will probably try to understand intellectually as well. And ideally, a good musician has both ability to think of music scholarly, and to perform what he/she intend to.

First of all, most of the music scholars who are only with the excellent guidance of professional competence and ability are difficult to get good result. And of course the solid theoretical basis of music teaching is important. But it is not enough to only have theoretical foundation to become a good musician, because music has to be played to people - it is not to be kept in your mind or papers.

Secondly, music scholars and musicians(performers) tend to express music differently. For example, music scholars sit in front of desks and only think about how to analyze music, while performers tend to think how to express music well in order to reach the audience's heart. But it is always not enough to approach music one-sided, because music is mixture of intellect and emotion.

In conclusion, a good musician must have both abilities to analyze music with brain, and express music with his/her instrument, the technique to play instrument, and expressive heart.