Is Prog For Musicians Only?

I took two piano lessons when I was 10, and I am an expert finger tapper (heavily Peart-influenced). I don't have musical talent, but I can appreciate musicianship, intricacy, complexity, beauty... Let's say that prog is one of the genres for those who want more from music than just entertainment or background noise. 

I started playing guitar about 4 years before I started getting into prog.  After that, I was something of a progsnob for a few years.  I felt that the only good music was from the early to mid 70's, and Rush .  Luckily, I have changed my perspective quite a bit.

Being a musician has certainly enhanced my appreciation of the skill it takes to make what I consider good music.  And I still think prog is the best music overall.  But learning an instrument is, in itself a progessive endeavor.  If you are really into it, you want to keep getting better and keep learning new things.  I always strived to be different in my playing, develop my own style, while still learning new things and incorporating them into that style.  Most popular rock music strikes me as being stagnant and more of a style and image thing than a musical thing.  So I think being a musician is certainly no guarentee that you will like prog.

I also have a lot of friends that like prog that are not musicians at all and never have been.  A couple people I know, who have broader music tastes than I do, actually know more about music than me in terms of harmonic development and composition, and they have never played an instrument.

The bottom line is you like what you like and nothing else matters at all.  Just because I know what time signatures, keys, scales, and harmonic patterns a song is using, doesn't mean I somehow get more enjoyment out of it than someone who doesn't know or understand those things.  In fact, that person may well enjoy it more, depending on the song, perciesely because they don't understand those things

It's all a matter of exposure.  It's really easy to like music in the mainstream since it's very accessable through the TV or the radio.  It is easier to just say that you listen to everything.  As I've said before, I live in South Florida and this is not a good place to find prog fans.  When you do, they're usually musicians.  I do not want to think that all prog fans are musicians, but so far, from my personal experience, that is what I see.  Of course I blame it on where I live. 

I have friends, who are not musicians, and they love prog a lot. Being a musician myself has brought new light to my eyes. I listened to prog before I picked up bass, and when I did it changed and I could have more appreciation for the music. But I do not think prog is for musicians only. It just helps some people to understand it better.

I used to play the drums but haven't sat behind a kit to "seriously" play in almost 10 years.  I would never consider myself a "musician".

It also crossed my mind in some moments, but no... there are a lot of people that just dont like mainstream rock, or just plainly like prog, even though they may not understand that a certain song is in 7/8 ...they like what they hear. I know people that listen to not only prog but other more non-comercial music cause they dont want a 3 minutes song about the girl next door.

When I got ito prog I didnt play any instrument, and only in the last year have I tacken up the bass, though this is because of prog.

I do not believe that prog music is only for musicians. Music is a form of art to be appreciated by everyone.  You can enjoy a painting, a poem, or a film without understanding the construction or creation of it.  Although, a musician may understand more about the music it does not make the experience any better or more valid.

I've been listening to prog music for about 35 years now ... I gave up trying to play an instrument about 32 or 33 years ago because I was just no good at it

something more: most prog-fans are not musicians, but prog DOES encourage fans to take on learning to play musical instruments. i praise it for this.