Question for Musicians on the Spectrum

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It's a two-part question.

1) Are you uncoordinated?

2) If so, does it ever get in the way of your ability to play?

I'm curious because it's something I deal with. However, I like to think that my obsessiveness and attention to detail outweigh the clumsiness, thereby giving me a slight advantage. Can anyone relate to that?

I think I've always been a bit more of a producer than an actual musician. The way I'd explain it, back when I did play guitar - from 5th grade through 12th, I really loved it, really was into the music I liked, and I felt like I was good at coming up with melodies and riffs. People felt that I could play pretty well but the trouble I think for me was partly what you said, it seemed like I could only take my quickness so far with playing before it slopped out (I would have been a good rhythm guitarists, maybe a bit of minimal soloing, but definitely not a Kirk Hammit or Dave Navarro). The other thing of course, motivation to actually be in a band and stay in a band - I think part of what hurt my odds was that anytime I did try to start something with my friends we'd have a drummer on one musical page, a bassist on another separate page, me on my thrash-metal page, and so it ended up being that we all just tried to jam for about 20 or 30 minutes, it turned into a big joke, and almost always ended up with us just shooting pool and getting a pizza. If I had met people who were inspirationally like minded or at least came up with some really sick ideas - that may have changed things, but its really hard to say just because it never went down like that for me.

Now, for the past 7 or 8 years its been electronic. From 1998 even I wanted to produce jungle but just on the sheer difficulty of trying to make the right sounds with the gear I had I ended up sticking to acid techno and tech trance for a while (did a 6AM closer slot Live PA at a rave one of my friends threw back in 2000, had a lot of those tracks posted on mp3.com for while as Modmatrix). Around 2003 I did start actually getting decent at producing jungle just because I was able to make some passable reece lines and things of that nature as well as the fact that I did have access to some of the right drum sounds. Never the less though I've had more problems with all this as well from another end - the technical, a lot of times my creativity still gets stuffed just by the sounds I can and can't create so that when I do have a successful creative endeavor its less fully my own creation and more just where the sounds that I was able to make allowed me to go (I guess about the best approximation of what I really wanted but quite often still sorely lacking). Right now I'm on a definite inspiration dry spell, turning 28 I kind of feel like I should be a pro at this by now and the fact that a lot of my end results just feel mediocre compared to the pros - I don't know, I may keep with it if I can get some better software or gear that jives with me better but its hard to say how much of its the gear and just how much of it is my own logical approach and how I think in terms of trying to make the sounds (and if the later is the case, there probably isn't much hope of improving all that much).

1.) Am I uncoordinated? Physically, yes. I've got a very strange way of walking, if that's what you mean. On guitar? On my left hand, everything's a breeze, but my right hand has never wanted to do anything I told it to do. As far as learning to play guitar went, I had to concentrate very heavily, though I did eventually overcome (and at the time, I didn't know about Asperger's).

2.) Do I think it's a problem? Not really. Part of my practice is mastery of technique, where I focus on exactly what my fingers are doing and exactly how I'm placing them. I focus very heavily on physical refinement. And so it's never been an issue, just because I never knew it could be.

I'm not a muiscian per say but I work in the sound booth at a church on and off so I figured why not.

I would say I'm clumsy. I frequently bump into things or loose track of how fast or where a body part is in relation to my surrondings.


It is at times - but I've only caused a feedback once. I have also turned on the wrong channel a couple times.

Nope.

"Attention to detail" is unfortunately a double-edged sword. AS perfectionism paired with a serious musician's desire for excellence can lead to long-term dissatisfaction until one "gets" that chasing perfection is great as long as you can be realistic and acknowledge that you'll never attain perfection.

Also, once you start practicing seriously, your standards (self-criticism) raise faster than whatever improvement is gleaned from practicing. This makes it appear that you're moving farther away from your goal of excellence, and can seriously mess with your feelings of contentment.

I'm a singer for a band 9not yet started), but I've been taught guitar quite a few times, and have NEVER got the hang of it. Whether this is because of being uncoordinated or I'm just no good at all, I don't know.

I play bass. Yes, I'm uncoordinated and yes, I use a lot of time on playing the same stuff over and over again to get it right. I have a really crappy short-time memory too so I have a problem learning stuff fast.

Not uncoordinated with guitar. My fingers just know where to go. I can play with my eyes closed. Piano however, I need more practice because my fingers get fumbly.

Playing in front of people on stage was nerve wrecking so I haven't done that in a while.

I'm slightly uncoordinated and I move lethargically, so it's difficult to get throught fast passages in music.

1. No.

2. No. NTs are often more unco-ordinated than we are, and that's never stopped them. Come to think of it, it may be an issue as to why I can't guitar solo really fast but I've honestly not cared about that since about year 8.

I can relate to that. I've been playing guitar for 13 years now. I can play most rhythm stuff really easily, but when I write songs, I always want to do stuff that I haven't mastered yet. The better I get, the more ideas I have that are just slightly out of reach. By the time I've learned how to play one of my songs, I've written a new one that I can't play yet. I accept that as part of the process.

What's annoying is when I'm trying to play something (sloppily) and someone interrupts and tells me how I should be doing it. I have to say, "I understand what I need to do. I just can't do it yet." Then they try to argue that I must not understand it; otherwise I'd be able to execute it. It's as if concepts follow actions for most people while actions follow concepts for me.

Practice time is when it's OK to make mistakes and try stuff out. Better then than in a performance!

I was the same until recently. Honestly on most of instruments I've just reached a point where I'm so happy with my ability that I don't strive to get anywhere else.

As for the people interrupting, I hate s**t like that. Unless I'm paying you to be my teacher, or I've asked you for your help, I don't want that help. Half of learning to play an instrument, hell probably more than half, is just practising until you get it right. But then I've not been in that situation for a while, I'm usually only helping other people out and that's only when they ask me.

This is something I've dealt with my whole life.

It's a combination of problems. One problem, that shouldn't be an excuse but it is... is my hands are incredibly small and 'pudgy'. And I am double jointed of sorts in my fingers, and my whole body seems to lack muscle tone... so I always play instruments (or use anything really) the 'wrong' way.

It's a fundamentals issue that has sort of plagued any approach at an instrument, the instructor spends so much time working on my deficiencies and getting frustrated... eventually I just give up.

I also make little mistakes, I never attain pure perfection in playing a piece. I get good enough to a level that I am satisfied... but I always make little mistakes. It's an issue that pops up in other areas of my life, but little mistakes are just a part of who I am... but it's not something you are supposed to do as a musician.

I have self discipline and focus issues, when ever I try to practice an instrument... I'm more interested in playing around and finding my own music and improvising than playing what I need to practice. Which is actually interesting, give me any instrument and how to form a couple of notes and I can play a melody or something musically interesting.

The instruments I've attempted: Cello, Piano, Drums, Piano, and now Ukulele and Piano(love the instrument and it's easy, but my fingers just can't fit onto the damn fret-board...). I keep going back to piano, I like being able to play chords and melody... I just can't get over the arrangement of the keys.

I currently am working on playing a fretless Bass Guitar... and it's the instrument I have the most skill on. And with my skill I probably could jam with some people, but my inattention to details hurts me... I'm never rock solid on the rhythm... and end up going to do my own thing often... not good as a bassist... but I do love the sound and creating a groove with the Bass. Bass guitar has the perfect sound...

I'm also on a quest to have an instrument set up the way my mind works, now that I understand music theory... I see everything as patterns. A major chord has a certain pattern, scales have another pattern... instruments that don't let me think in this pattern... I tend to hate. The main culprit is piano, I just hate the way the keys are set up... I uniform design would be much better.... the Janko keyboard. Something like this...


I've always been creative musically though. I can think up new parts to music I've heard, hum a melody. Find interesting rhythms that really groove. So I've started to compose music on the computer... and am really happy with what I've created. So that's basically my focus... composing.

I am a tad uncoordinated...I have good rhythm...but my motor functions have always been shoddy...
i am a strummer...I am horrible at finger picking and horrible at soloing.....it seems partially to do with not getting my hands to do what I want them to.

and sometimes I will be performing and my hands will just totally spaz up so I can't even make the right chords.

As I have said on stage before...I am a novelty act. I am allowed to make mistakes.

I've been lucky this way; I pick up an instrument, and as long as it has a 'one-to-one' correspondence between note and a place to put yer fingers, I'm making some music with it. This has a few drawbacks (I play guitar and bass backwards and upside-down.. Good for bar bets, though..

I find that I get to a plateau, and don't really get any better after awhile.

I have a theory that my uncoordinatedness (is that a word?.. is due to my 'personal space' being so compressed, that random body parts stick out and trip things up. Being left-handed probably doesn't help, either..

But I do well when playing along with other people, just not a solo artist.