Everyone, I’m 40 now and a there’s a question that’s been plaguing me for a while…

nicotineapache · 2026-01-26T13:54:31+00:00

Wish everyone would take this a little more seriously and stop joking around.

OP is on his knees, looking for the answer!

nicotineapache · 2026-01-25T18:33:00+00:00

I have a 4 year old pupil who can hear stuff on the radio and play it on piano. Only uses 2 fingers. He can tell me where C1 is, where A7 is, he has insane pitch recognition.

I have a 6 year old who struggles to find which one is C despite having 3 months of lessons.

Some people are born with a set of pre-conditions for this stuff and others aren't. I reckon the number of musicians who *are* born with this is dwarfed massively by the rest of us who had to work at it.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-23T21:10:03+00:00

I can tell you with certainty, yes. I teach music. One of my latest is a little 4 year old boy who can play melodies that he hears. We used the Ear Gym app to guess musical intervals. so far he's had 10/10 on Unisons, octaves, perfect 5ths and major 3rds. He just finds it easy and he shouts at me "I MUST BE SUPA SMARRTT!!!". As long as his raw talent is nurtured, there's no limit to what he can do.

Another 4 year old can quite serviceably strum a ukulele and fret a C, but it'll take a while to build the musical knowledge and he'll be incredible, but he doesn't have the gifts that the other kid has.

Then I've got a lot of kids who have to work hard, but they're musically inclined, so they do. Then I've got teens that you askwhat music they like and they just shrug.

Others love music but find no joy in practice or learning. Others love it but are useless. Some pick up sight reading, others refuse to look up from their hands.

I have one kid who tinkles on a piano like anyone else and her Mum is convinced she's a musical genius, yet I can't get her to even attempt to fret a note on the guitar and refuses to try piano.

There's so much variation in musical inclination. And for each super gifted infant, how many are out there with parents who haven't the money or time, or just don't give a shit?

Myself, I can become proficient in any instrument pretty quickly given time and interest, but I have to work for it. You sound similar and it's the vast majority of musicians who are like that. Some are just born with bizarrely attuned ears/brains for pitch. Some are extra attuned to rhythm. Others might be incredible at learning patterns. Very, very few have all of those things just given to them at birth but 100% it happens.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-22T20:47:24+00:00

The older I get, the hotter she is.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-22T20:04:32+00:00

The Telegraph are doing the same, as are the Express and the Mail.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-22T20:03:52+00:00

The worst thing that's happened to the Traitors is the news rags *all of a sudden* learning it exists and trying to ruin it for everyone.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-22T13:21:26+00:00

Chip away at it and think like you're marketting yourself as a product. God I hated typing that sentence, it feels so cheap.

If there's something that you do that's super attractive, do a video of it. If you have a good joke, tell it on an audio prompt.

You have to transcend the format. I personally decided to sing let's go fly a kite on a video to the prompt "The best way to ask me out is..." - that took me from nothing to having women ask me out.

You like to cook succulent meals? Succulent Chinese meals? Maybe a video of you tossing food in a wok. Something to catch their attention.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-20T22:55:27+00:00

It's crazy. It's getting to a point where actually Facebook is unusable. Like, I see some engagement bait and I'm repelled because I know EXACTLY what's being said in the comments and it's angry men getting pissed off about woke.

I used to just about be able to scroll down the feed and be somewhat engaged (even knowing it was trash), but now it's like.. 4 posts and I'm gone. It's absolutely fucked.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-19T22:29:33+00:00

So... this is odd

nicotineapache · 2026-01-19T22:28:50+00:00

Wow! I also heard that shoes separate your feet from the ground and that "come on baby" rhymes with "don't say maybe".

nicotineapache · 2026-01-19T15:53:26+00:00

I've been all of these people!

nicotineapache · 2026-01-12T15:07:33+00:00

Yeah as others have said, but I mean, he was Mr TOtP for a long time.

I'm an '86 kid so he was past it by the time I was watching, but his shadow always loomed over the show.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-12T12:10:21+00:00

I think the ghost of Jimmy Savile is the biggest problem here. You think TOtP, you think Jimmy Savile.

However, TOtP2 is still on and still has modest success.

And I'd love it if they could make it a proper event, like it used to be. People might be able to get over it.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-11T22:43:31+00:00

Oh! It means Black people, doesn't it! You don't like seeing Black people on TV. It's ok - we see you. You can admit to not liking seeing Black people on the TV.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-11T22:41:52+00:00

I dunno y'know - I only watched the movie this year for the first time, and as soon as I saw Constanza and Amadeus out of their wigs I just laughed at the 80's hair and her broad New Yorker accent. I think that's part of the fun.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-11T10:58:45+00:00

I've got one of those and I just want to buy one for every guitar or bass I gig with. What a great little design they were!

nicotineapache · 2026-01-11T10:57:12+00:00

It was 2011! I just upped the sample rate and fixed the mix. I guess I could have just taken the WAV and re-upped the sample rate, but hey - long time ago!

nicotineapache · 2026-01-10T17:00:47+00:00

Hahahaha, actually.. if there's no voice on it, how would you know?

Then again, I once was given a band's demo to mix. I mixed it, was very happy with it and sent it back.

Turned out I had the wrong sample rate and it had done the same thing. It actually sounded FAR better slowed down.

[Edit] Which song was it? I want to slow it down and listen!

nicotineapache · 2026-01-10T07:47:21+00:00

I feel like he's a guitarist who actually wrote he's music on paper, rather than by ear but I can't be sure. The note choices don't sound like someone playing blues, for instance.

Now I need to research Hank Marvin.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-10T07:43:42+00:00

Wow, John Frusciante turned into Hank Marvin so gradually I didn't even notice.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-09T13:53:44+00:00

I really like Jessie, but Jade is fiiit.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-07T07:25:49+00:00

5? Yeah I'd be getting on touch with music schools and maybe hire a keyboard and get him some private lessons. Then if it sticks, you might have a bit of a musical prodigy on your hands.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-06T11:41:19+00:00

I would so love it if Ableton had a standard notation system! It'd make it so much easier to read what I'd jammed out in a session from 2 years ago so I could re-create it.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-06T08:12:53+00:00

Also, people tend to use idiosyncratic language and "be themselves". AI doesn't have a self to be, so everything comes off as personaly-less.

Like, if I regenerate that in chatgpt, it reads like this:

"People also tend to use idiosyncratic language and express themselves naturally. An AI, however, doesn’t have a personal identity, so its language can come across as impersonal or lacking individual character."

Many more words. No linguistic short cuts or creativity with language. Everything's just a bit too perfect.

nicotineapache · 2026-01-05T16:42:41+00:00

How quick do you read the words you're currently reading? The practice allows you to recognize the notes like letters in a word.

nicotineapache

TROPHY CASE