Quote:
Originally Posted by
innoverse
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There are some exceptions, but I and I'm sure many other people have noticed a general decline in quality of musicians as they get older.
Is there a physical change in the brain or is it more environmental?
Just curious
Depends how u define 'quality'. Ability to write something new? Or just to play the songs like they used to?
Perhaps there aren't ANY exceptions. All suffer from it.
In general, if we are speaking of singers, those who sing in a deeper voice will last longer. But those who were closer to Tenor voice, such as Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, Graham Nash, & Roger Daltry, declined in vocal ability since they're no longer able to sing like they did on the records. The physical ability has declined. But also, many of these people lost essential musical-mates that brought out the best in them. John Bonham isn't there to bring out the best in Page & Plant. So it's also mental, & emotional,
& a change in the brain for sure.
Someone such as Eric Burdon, always sang in a much lower voice than those other guys. Eric Burdon was a true exception in Rock. A pure Blues voice that has retained its richness. Eric Clapton is another whose voice was able to adapt to age. Clapton has a little raspiness, which becomes nice with age. There's also a correlation to musical ability & intelligence, & Eric Clapton might be the most intelligent & the most brilliant.
Maybe it's different for instrumentalists, but in 2015, is Jimmy Page any "better" at playing than Robert Plant is? Nope.
But I'm not sure what u mean by "environmental".