How do you define musical fluency?
I define it like I would define language fluency: can I understand and speak it without conscious thought about the mechanics? I am fluent in English; I am not fluent in Latin, Italian, or Swedish – though I have spent various amounts of time studying each. In those languages, I can understand and express basic ideas, with a little time and effort.
And there was a time in my musical development when that’s how I felt about music. With time and effort, I could analyze that chord, sight read that line, interpret that phrase, understand the piece in a wider musical context. With time.
Now I consider myself fluent – at least in the particular dialect of the music I practice every day. I’m not fluent in concert band or dodecaphonic music or post-minimalist or punk, but in my chosen musical world I can speak and understand the music without effort.
I think students underestimate the time and work it takes to get from understanding to fluency – there is a profound difference between the two, and it’s only achievable through deep repetition and time.