The child star is back on top of both classical crossover and classical overall charts in this week’s Soundscan ratings, which measure actual till sales of music recordings. Joshua Bell, who also appeared on Dancing with the Stars, enjoyed a very small boost, coming in at #8 on the ‘traditional’ classical chart.
Classical crossover:
1*EVANCHO*JACKIE DREAM WITH ME (total sales to date) 666395
2 BOCELLI*ANDREA CONCERTO:LIVE IN CENTRAL PARK 517475
3 IL VOLO TAKES FLIGHT-LIVE FROM THE DET 30236
4 IL VOLO IL VOLO 216468
5 MA*YO-YO GOAT RODEO SESSIONS 153102
Classical overall
1 EVANCHO*JACKIE DREAM WITH ME 666395
2 BOCELLI*ANDREA CONCERTO:LIVE IN CENTRAL PARK 517475
3 IL VOLO TAKES FLIGHT-LIVE FROM THE DET 30236
4 IL VOLO IL VOLO 216468
5 VLACH QUARTET PRAGUE TAKAKO N CHAMBER MUSIC – 50 OF THE BEST 1850
Jackie critics, please let this be an added incentive to offer your barbs… there is no telling when one or more suggestions/comments will be taken to heart by fans or Jackie and lead to something good…no one should have a self-delusion of perfection.
To help illustrate your technique criticisms I and perhaps others might get some clarification if you would look and listen to Deanna Durbin(also semi-classic) youtube of Nessun Dorma (in English interestingly) and state whether that is close to the technique you would prefer for Jackie… for me, I’d prefer a bit more vibrato but what do YOU think?
I for one would certainly prefer that. I think it’s funny that Durbin and Evancho are brought up in the same conversations so frequently when the only things they have in common (as far as I can tell) are their genders, and that at one point Durbin was also a “child star”. They don’t sound anything alike, they don’t sing the same way at all, and they don’t behave anything alike onstage.
I think Durbin was a great example of someone that sang classical music well AND sang like someone her own age. She sang in a young female’s register, had consistent vibrato and vocal quality throughout her range, pronounced foreign languages correctly, was always audible, was able to sing fine without amplification, and acted onstage in a manner that made sense with what she was singing. I do not believe that Jackie does any of these things, and that she should copy them from the late Ms. Durbin if she can. I am not saying Jackie is bad.
What does this mean in sales?
It would be unthinkable to sell that many CDs in a week, so it has to be dollars like it suggests with the word “till”.
These are cumulative unit sales.
Thank you, Norman. Is there no information on the number of unit sales since the television appearance?
Cue 375 comments about nothing, nothing at all…
She is the top-selling classical artist in the US. We cannot ignore that.
I can ignore it.
Please, CJ … by all means, do. Thaty would be a most welcome development here.
cj, well apparently you haven’t ignored t.
Since when is Jackie Evancho a “classical artist?”
Tom, you’re so right!
She is just a half-pint-sized, “untrained little upstart,” who mimics adult lyric sopranos – thus giving “classical music” a bad name – while producing one platinum album after another … and blowing the “professionally trained” competition off the charts! How UNworthy! How UNprofessional! It’s so UNfair!
Well, then, damn the ignorant stupidity of all the uneducated gutter wash that insists on buying into her fraudulent con job! Shame on them! We need to start a “Just Say No to Evancho” campaign, right away – before she sells another million copies of that horrendous garbage she thinks is singing!
Yes Sir! …
You bettcha! …
We’re on it, boss …
(Sound of crickets chirping)
Yes, the crickets will be chirping when someone mentions Jackie Evancho 20 years from now.
Bruce … LOL ! I couldn’t have said it better !
Evancho is 12 years old.
She has a very mature voice and sings well.
She is introducing Opera and classical music to young folks who would never, under normal circumstances, be exposed to such.
Perhaps you suffer from retrocranialinversion?
Frankly, I am not interested in how many albums little Jackie sells. It’s irrelevant from the point of her artistic qualities (just as it is with Bocelly, Boyle, Rieux et al.).
I’m not her guardian, so I have no influence on what she does. I’m also not saying she’s UN-anything except not being a classical singer. She’s exploited, but that’s another matter.
Good luck to Jackie and may god preserve her voice from those who want to make a quick buck.
Evidently she must appeal to millions of people around the world to have sold so many CDs. I wouldn’t care if she were on the bottom of the hit list, I would still buy her CDs. I don’t care what your negative comments are, because she has proven herself to be a one of a kind singer. And I think future singers will be mimicing her. You critics will have many years to critisize her, so get a good supply of paper and pens.
Bruce, I don’t remember thanking you earlier for this; if I did, THANKS AGAIN!
millions of flies can’t be wrong…
what is this fetish about sold records about? Who cares? Are we record label executives? Or are we art lovers?
Selling many records does not translate into artistic merits. Selling many records means selling many records. Period.
She isn’t. There is only one classical album listed above. The rest are all pop records.
Crossover artists don’t belong in the Classical category to begin with.
Perhaps they would be more at home in, say, Adult Contemporary, or Easy Listening?
She is not a classical artist, and we *can* and should ignore her. Mr. Lebrecht delights, methinks, in the hitmeter for his blog when he makes posts such as this and sets loose the wild dogs of rabid evankomaniacs.
If you didn’t like wild dogs would you still read this blog?
Well, a couple of points spring to mind.
What is a sales chart?
And who compiles it?
It’s a gauge compiled by the record industry itself of how many times a particular record is sold.
The category to which this particular record or recording artist is allotted is defined by the record industry itself. No-one else.
And the record industry has a vested interest in bundling the category “Classical Crossover” together with “Classical” in order to give it a veneer of seriousness which it otherwise would not have.
You might as well bundle together Heavy Metal and Classical.
It’s a totally artificial and self-serving definition.
I would guess that the vast majority of people who buy classical and opera recordings aren’t interested in the likes of Jackie Evancho and the overwhelming majority of people who buy Jackie Evancho records have no truck whatsoever with opera and classical music.
So the fact that Jackie Evancho has sold 2 million records has as little bearing on the classical and opera buying public as do the record sales of Iron Maiden or Michael Jackson. It’s like comparing apples with oranges.
Just because the record companies try to turn Jackie Evancho into a serious classical artist by lumping her together with, say, Renee Fleming, that doesn’t mean to say that the really are in the same category of music, does it? We, the record buying public, don’t have to accept the definitions that the record industry foist on us.
And finally, so what if a record is bought by 2 million people? Does that make it better, in terms of artistic quality, than one that is bought by only 200,000 people?
No, it doesn’t.
I am a classical musician and consider myself to be a discerning music listener in a wide range of different genres.
I can decide for myself what music I take seriously and what music I want to listen to.
I have very definite — and, I believe, well-informed — opinions about the likes of artists such as Jackie Evancho and Katherine Jenkins.
But at the end of the day, their records, their fans and their music simply do not interest me. I don’t buy them. And even if 6 billion people bought their records, it still would not be moved to buy them.
Why not correct your last sentence: change “it” to “I” and then keep that sentence while deleting everything above.
Perhaps your classical music performances are better than your rambling effort at written communication.
and you think resorting to insults will change my mind?
Musiker,
If you don’t appreciate my editing ask Bruce to review your wonderful wordy comment…if you really think they “lump” Jackie with classical to impart “seriousness” (where’d you get that one– do you mean validity?) you might consider their purpose to be more in line with IMPROVING CLASSICAL SALES…. you may be biased enough to be unable to relate to realities like this.
Richard Carlisle,
You may find it a harsh or perhaps unbearable reality, but for all the thousands of people out there who like Jackie Evancho, there are many more millions who don’t. Deal with it.
Don’t buy Jackie’s records as they would be wasted on you, but don’t waste hundreds of words saying nothing that couldn’t be said in one sentence… it’s not fair to your fellow critics sho look for more meaningful comments from their fellow critics.
“sho”??? What does that mean?
A typo left uncorrected on purpose: an intelligence test, which since you failed let me give you a multiple choice to see if you can figure it out (the average person would have properly interpreted it) …
Here we go– select from the following: 1) fho 2)rho 3)xho 4)who.
Special hint: it might be number 4.
Jackie critics, aren’t you proud of the company you keep!
yeah right.
Not saying it’s your fault Norman. Sorry if it came off that way. It’s just a little sad to come to this site for news about classical music and see the comments section devolve into people calling each other child molesters or child haters all over a 12 year old singer with a pretty voice.
I agree.
Good for her. Some may remark on how “unfortunate” this development; for it confirms that there is a great multitude of “musically ignorant” people who are willing to throw away good money on this “little upstart.” So be it. Count yours truly among them.
Consider that the income generated through these sales will allow the Mike and Lisa Evancho to pay for Jackie’s studio production costs, travel expenses, etc. Likely too the proceeds from these sales will be used (eventually) to offset the costs of obtaining “proper vocal training” – the necessity upon which the many “experts” perusing this blog are so “passionately” insistent!
Bruce,
At this rate they can buy a rocket ship to circle the earth with a banner “I NEED LESSONS”…. 2/3 of a million in one week?
Glancing at the comments I have not seen a “negative” one yet. If we could just try to pull back the defensive and frankly, “long winded, indignant rambles,” that would be great. We might try discussing her new CD due this fall, any predictions?
And why not invest the same effort in LISTENING that we invest in SPOUTING?
The most promising aspect of her upcoming CD is that she’s not rushing it; perhaps the quality level will be at least as good or if it’s possible– better?
And would I EVER love to hear her try “Vizzi d’arte” from Tosca; “Un Bel Di” from Butterfly also…. then there’s Shenandoah, Danny Boy… have to wonder what she’ll choose.
“Vizzi d’arte”???
Whose “Tosca” is that?
If you mean Puccini’s opera, try copy and pasting the correct spelling next time.
Don’t worry, it will come out as “vizzi” d’arte or some other garbled version but her fans will lap it up, feeling that a double consonant whatever it is, sounds “cultured”. This will occur despite those beastly “opera snobs” who think that it is important to pronounce words properly in any language and moreover, understand them in order to project their meaning to the listener.
Richard,
That will be interesting but you can probably forget about “Danny Boy” since her mom hates that song and stated something to the effect of “over my dead body” as to her doing another recording of it, which is really too bad since it would be a big hit among her current fans, and that stance also feeds the notions that Jackie’s career is driven primarily by the aspirations of her parents.
When mom and dad quit their jobs making their little girl sole income provider for their family of six, it’s no longer about her and her career, it’s their career.
And why not worry about Barack Obama– who’s going to help him when he outgrows the presidency?
Suppose the Evanchos had bought a lottery ticket for a few dollars and won two million and put it it the bank, quit their jobs and for a hobby started traveling around the world.
The main difference between that situation and their actual one, since they probably cleared two million by now is now they get paid for traveling around and performing… isn’t this better– how do we find justification for any concern; Jackie in an interview said she’d like a kitten… if that’s the kind of big spenders we’re looking at they’ll have enough to support this generation and the next even if they don’t sell another ticket or CD.
And what is wrong with that if parents and child are happy ? Just curious
I’m using this reply tab because CJ didn’t have one on his last comment.
CJ, nice to have you on again, … firstly, are you biased in some way about double consonants because cabbage sports the two “B”s … just wondering; and now for the rest of your comment– WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!– I refuse to read it more than twice to get the gist … OK, you know I value your comments but this one makes too little sense to even START rediculing; did you write it when you were up sleep-walking or are you testing my comprehension capacity for the inane.
So come on, do me a favor just this once and rewrite that random collection of verbiage so we can get on with another meaningful debate.
Thanks in advance and don’t stay away so long next time.
Use a dictionary: the word is “ridiculing”.
I realized it too late- no way to correct though without a reply tab but anyway you’ve done an amazing public service not only to me but everyone who saw the error and might be preparing lawsuits for personal damages from a misleading statement due to that flagrant violation and general misuse of our cherished language… my apologies to all those whose day (or even longer time frame) I may have ruined, and please be merciful and hold off at least for now with those ever so threatening legal actions.
Hey JFP, how bright an intellect — why can’t we all have your kind of brilliance– can’t begin to imagine how better a place this world would be if everyone were exactly like you– of course an impossibility — make that ALMOST a match for your brilliance.
By the way I left a typo for you to discover; let’s see if you can pick that one up now– take your time…
I’m more worried about how close are those two charts. Is the #5 in overall a Naxos pack release of chamber music?
Where do you get all these sales data? Are they public?
Jackie Evancho is at the beginning of a very long and distinguished career. The explosion of interest and sales are also just beginning. Those who dislike her music will just have to learn to endure. The fan-base is growing day by day, and these are fans Jackie will have for the rest of her life.
Fellow Jackie Fan Richard Carlisle in his own words
“richard carlisle says:
May 2, 2012 at 10:35 pm
With Jackie emerging in age and size I doubt her singing popularity will persist….”
You underestimate the fans as well as Jackie herself. As long as singing is fun and pleasurable Jackie will continue to brighten our day. If the time comes singing is no longer a focus of her life, then we will still carry that torch of support in whatever the future holds for Jackie Evancho. Her singing and personality motivates our passions for her style of music just as other artists motivate others in their style. We are happy to have the opportunity to support the career of someone who brings that special something to our lives. I know of no other classical style singer that motivate so many to travel hundreds, or even thousands of miles just to experience a Jackie live performance. We know just how special this little girl really is. Whatever the future holds for her, we will be there.
Stephen, enough can’t be said for this unique experience Jackie delivers— it’s really life-completing… I noticed in one incident shown in a youtube she said somewhat indignantly “There’s an ant on my dress” and when someone went to remove it she said “Don’t crush it, let it be” , totally sincere about the ant’s welfare– total proof of her concern for all living things– even her critics?
Richard, I hope you will be able soon to see Jackie in person if you haven’t already. As her voice is becoming more and more known, it is becoming harder to get seats close to the stage to really experience the profound effect Jackie’s singing has on her audience. I will have the opportunity to meet Jackie in Alpharetta, Georgia on the 3rd of June when she performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a 12,000 seat Amphitheater. I am honored to have the chance to talk with the future superstar.
WOW Stephen– once in a lifetime blessing absolutely… if you direct her to this blog she’ll have a chance to see how harmlessly irrevelant her critics are– enough to cheer someone in her position.
It’s coming up soon, we’ll be envying you!
The Exchange
I met the Muse of Censorship
And she had packed her bags
And all the folk of Moscow
Were hanging out the flags.
I asked her what her prospects were
And whither her thoughts did range.
She said: “I am off to Dublin town
On a cultural exchange.
“And folk there be in Cambridge
Who like the way I think
And there be folk in Nottingham
Whom I shall drown in ink
“And when we reach America
The majorettes will sing:
Here comes The Muse of Censorship—
This is a very good thing.”
I went to Finland station
To wave the muse goodbye
And on another platform
A crowd I did espy.
I saw the Muse of Freedom
Alighting from the train.
Far from that crown I wept aloud
For to see that muse again.
–James Fenton
“I know of no other classical style singer that motivate so many to travel hundreds, or even thousands of miles just to experience a Jackie live performance.”
Domingo, Netrebko, Fleming, Bartoli, Gruberova, Gheorghiu, Terfel, Harteros, Garanca, Florez, Kaufmann, Villazon, Stemme, Dalayman, Voigt, Calleja, DiDonato, Perez, Dessay, Pisaroni, etc.
You know of no other who motivates because you know of no others.
Just wondering: how many of those performers, wonderful without doubt– sold a million recordings at age 11?
Musiker, as you emerge in intelligence your popularity may not last either but perhaps you can help Jackie in her acting career, coming up next– about which you will be making much-anticipated brilliant remarks.
Looking at the careers of little.Connie Talbot in addition to Shirley Temple and other child prodigies may possibly give you some insight though I doubt it… certainly wouldn’t want you to agree with me.
I’m stepping aside to let Bruce help you…. whatever happened to CJ?
There isn’t a single sentence in that little outpouring that makes logical/grammatical/orthographical sense.
Nice one.
Thanks — compliments from you mean a great deal.
@richard carlisle
You Evancho fans are really busy going from site to site putting out little fires and also making quite a few of your own. If it is too quiet, you provoke actitvity. (do any of you have day jobs?) My original post on this thread was that I prefer to ignore how many recordings Jackie makes, as little as I care about the millions that Madonna has racked up or the tens of millions of burgers that Mc Donalds churns out every month.
Regarding the double consonants in “Vizzi d’arte” (sic), the point I was making was, the more the better! It sounds more exotic when “r” is lengthened to about 3x its length in “Ombrrra Mai Fu” or “O mio babbino carr-o”. “Vitzi d’arrrte” is a better bet in this case than “Vissi d’arte”.
CJ,
I got Vizzi d’arte from two different youtube references; do you have THE correct spelling?
Is this guy for real?
Yes, this is the “gentleman” we have been debating about classical music.
Remove the space before youtube. I don’t want to clog this topic even more with videos.
http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=F7u77WFkcKQ&feature=related
Tebaldi
http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=x9ePgCnLyg8&feature=related
Callas
http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=_OIExoUb8jk
Gheorghiu
The Georghiu reference is priceless so I can’t pay you–what a treat– Georg Solti said he was in tears when he first heard her perform… a valid description for me also… no way to tire of many repeats of that performance.
I do prefer the Callas performance that shows the video, might be the 1958 one, not sure.
Very indebted.
That’s just my point – gibberish can be sung in any language other than English in “crossover”.
No one bothered about the actual meaning of Ave Maria in this particular case. In fact, had it been sung in English, it would not have had the same exotic effect.
Thank you Janey for the Angela Gheorghiu and other references. beautiful.
This amazing talent may be the very thing that challenges us to see what God has done in this amazing young girl. To be critical of any of Jackies achievements is for myself a failure to simply see her raw talent to open the hearts of people who need to receive graces. Sales are sales and any exploitation of her talents will not deminish the effect she has on hearts hurt ,broken, or hardened. Great talents such as Jackie come along once in many generations in her particular case perhaps once in the history of mankind. Her style and beautiful expression of her music is a chance for people like myslef to reflect on where we stand in the light of beautiful composure, in the face of a world desperate for truth and a passion for life.The call for a deeper devotion to faith in Gods goodness is what she proposes to many. May Jackie have millions of supporters in the face of a few critics there is always at least one critic in a minion. Blessings to Jackie!
Thank God for blessings to Jackie. Thank God indeed for, when dolling out his blessings, passing over the millions of children in this world who sleep in the dirt each night and instead endowing his extended goodness to an already privileged child growing up in the suburbs of America. May Jackie’s supporters continue to afford her $100+ concert ticket prices and sustain their devotion as she ages and transcends the cherubic figment that bestows her present appeal.
Jackie Evancho is a refreshing change from todays world of lipsynching, screeming, techno altered/ enhanced voices of one hit wonder pop stars. As for her critics…. they will always be there.
I think one of the reasons for her success is people enjoy listing to this young lady not just because of her music and talent but because of the way she presents and carries herself both on and off stage. Jackie is intelligent, well spoken and can certainly hold her own in any interview with grace an poise. A rarity among today’s young artists. When Jackie takes to the stage she gives an honest performance “from the heart” and does not require all the added smoke, mirrors, and flash . It is all her and the orchestra (in most cases)
Her critics say she isn’t a real “classical singer”… so be it. Consider this, Jackie has introduced classical & theatre music to a whole new group of young and old alike. Will both classical and live musical threatre not benefit from this ? People who buy her CD’s and see her live performances just want to listen and enjoy her music. As do I.
Someone here drew a bright line distinguishing Jackie Evancho’s fans from the musically literate ones who listen to “real” classical music.
This is factually incorrect.
Judging from her fan forum on Amazon.com–one of the three or more most active forums on that website, consistently–and from her official fan club site (JEFC), I get the impression that around 10-20% of her fans are musically sophisticated.
I don’t mean just proficient sight readers with the depth of musical knowledge needed to, say, instantly distinguish Gesualdo from Monteverdi, but certainly people who go to classical music concerts on purpose (as opposed to those dragged there by spouses) and who buy classical CDs, and who at the least enjoy the works of the popular Romantic era composers plus neoRomantics like Prokoviev and Gershwin and earlier shining stars like Mozart and Bach.
Extrapolating to Jackie’s CD sales and paying concertgoers, that’s many, many thousands of people who are musically discerning and who believe that Jackie is an interpretive genius with extraordinary vocal abilities.
This opens the discomforting (for some) possibility that classical music lovers who don’t like Jackie’s music are missing something–or, worse yet, may be missing what Jackie’s got due to rigid stereotyping and even tribalism.
I should add that her upcoming album will contain no classical music, though it will still be performed in a classical crossover manner. I have no idea whether this will true for later albums.
He’s back! Tag-teaming with Russ huh?
Ehkzu, it’s interesting that you mention JEFC and the Amazon forums. If any of the followers of this and other classical music blogs and message boards were to go to those Jackie forums and invoke arguments, spewing patronizing remarks on what Jackie fans are missing, and what they just don’t understand, due to their tribalism and so forth – they would be labeled as mere trolls. But you don’t ever find them there do you?
Yet here you are. The pride and joy of the AARP sect of Evancho-lists. The grand papa-bear of condescension and Jackie Evancho “information” here to educate everyone on how misinformed they are about the subject of your infatuation. If only your obsession with your 12-year old little girl idol were complimented with respect for her parents, perhaps you then would resist distributing bootleg video recordings of her concerts and coming to places like this trying to provoke debate about her.
The wishes of her own parents be damned! This is your Jackie! Here and everywhere Jackie shall be promoted and defended as Ehkzu sees fit, and if an argument regarding her has finally exhausted, another one shall be introduced so the defending can endure.
This persistent desire to “defend” – rather than demonstrating confidence in your idol’s abilities, instead exhibits immense insecurity.
To restate what Jackie’s father’s wrote in his pleading to fans like you to stop doing exactly what you’re doing here:
“Are you afraid her critics are right?”
Dear me, you’re putting a lot of effort into talking about–well, not even a performer you don’t like, but into talking about the fans of a performer you don’t like. Why?
The psychopathology of the anti-fan fascinates me. I have trouble fathoming how any performer I didn’t appreciate would move me to the sort of effort I see here. Why don’t you put such effort (including, apparently, lurking on the official fansite of the performer you don’t like) into supporting a performer you do like?
If not, why? I don’t get it.
Ehkzu, you assume a lot, but I suppose it’s to be expected: the typical response that anyone who doesn’t idolize and idealize Jackie therefore doesn’t like her, doesn’t support her, and is an “antifan.”
Are YOU really supporting Jackie. I think not. What you are supporting is yourself and your own psychopathological needs which you’ve made Jackie part of, and her own parents and professional management be dammed if their methods and aspirations contrast with what you have envisioned for her.
The Evancho family have expressed their disapproval and asked fans not to partake in all of the following, which you disregarded out of hand (because they’re just wrong, and you know better) :
– Recording one of Jackie’s concert performances
– Uploading those concert videos to the Internet
– Posting derogatory comments about other performers, including ones Jackie’s a fan of
– Attacking those critical of Jackie’s singing techniques
If you’re really a fan who appreciates Jackie, not just as a musician but as a human being, you sure do have a peculiar way of showing it. Why not be genuinely supported of Jackie and show her and her parents some respect?
You probably meant to say “supportive”…you give the impression you spend time here because your neighbors prefer your presence away from them… keep hiding behind the pseudo.
Wow! You really seemed to have worked yourself into a royal fit…. Calm down ! It’s entertainment, not life and death.
Ehkzu,
I believe it is the 80-90% crowd that come here to post who are being addressed in the manner you refer, and the said characterizations are arrived at from the content of their responses here. One might even conclude that your very post here (“interpretive genius”, “extraordinary vocal capabilities”, etc) is in fact further corroboration of such characterizations.
If I can translate your syntactical stylings into plain English, you appear to be saying that anyone who calls Jackie a genius etc. is by definition a musical nincompoop.
If so, the list of nincompoops would then include people such as:
Christopher Hahn, General Director of the Pittsburgh Opera
Antony Walker, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Opera
Claudia Benack, Assistant Professor of musical theatre at Carnegie Mellon University
Doctor Clark Rosen, director of the University of Pittsburgh Voice Center
David Foster, popular music producer (though a Puccini fan) and Chairman of Verve Music Group
music critic Nekesa Mumbi Moody (Associated Press, ABC News)
I’m not an expert or music industry veteran but I am a classical music fan–everything from Machaut to John Adams–and have attended many live concerts and operas over the years. That in and of itself doesn’t prove that I possess musical discernment, of course, but I’ve certainly been exposed to a huge amount of classical music, starting when I was a child and we’d visit my aunt, who had music unknown in my own home, notably Mahler’s Das Lied Von Der Erde and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, both of which had a huge impact on me and started my explorations of classical music.
I’m not personally acquainted with anyone else who posts here except for one person, and he’s musically literate. I’m sure there are others who are not.
Conversely, what I’ve observed in these threads
It looks like you were cut off and unable to finish ?