My family spent some time recently with a good self-taught musician. He plays a number of different instruments, and can communicate intelligently about music; but to my knowledge he never received formal musical training.
I think he is deservedly proud of his hard-won musical skills, but I think some self-taught musicians can be hesitant about talking music with musicians with formal training. For any number of reasons, we can tend to alienate musicians who don’t acquire their skills in the “conservatory” way – even if it’s not conservatory music being played.
Music educators, even, can be guilty of this: we can say or imply that a formal education is the only way to become a real musician. A trained musician. A good musician.
It’s not true. It’s not the only way.
It might be the fastest way. It might be the best way. It might offer advantages that autodidacts don’t have access to. But becoming a musician doesn’t only happen through school and private lessons. There are myriad ways.