Val Byref (5/15/2008)
string together little black dots on a page (music) or string together little black dots (well, ANSI characters) on a page (code). It's really the same kind of skill set -- the ability to imagine a finished work and then construct all the minutely detailed components acting together in concert to make it happen.
I think you hit the nail on the head.
As the lead of a web development team and being responsible for the architecture of the sites, I've often thought of myself as a composer or conductor, rather than a programmer. I think the ability to see or hear the finished piece in your head before ever writing a node or typing a line of code is what seperates the top-notch programmers from the drones in our industry.
Also, while I don't play an instrument, I've been singing since high school and am just learning guitar. Two of my team members play instruments and a former employee actually had his degree in music.