It doesn’t matter how articulate or eloquent you are if you don’t have anything to say.
This is true in both music and the liberal arts. In music, being hyper-expressive is almost as bad as being completely inexpressive. Imposing your ego and idiosyncrasies on a piece obscures the music and what it has to say. It’s like seasoning food: a little goes a long way. The point is to bring out the flavors that are inherent in the food, not to cover them up.
Likewise, in academe great emphasis is placed on the ability to speak and write well, to express oneself clearly and precisely. While this an essential requirement for being taken seriously as a professional, it’s actually a proxy for thinking clearly and precisely, and deeply.
How does one come up with something interesting to say? First, by living; from reflecting on your life experience, from being curious and learning about the world and the experiences of others. More specifically, by living with a subject (a piece of music, an article or idea) long enough to think laterally and reflectively on it; by having a broader base of knowledge to sift through for other relevant facts and ideas from other fields and experiences. Putting two and two together, making new connections, comes next; this is the essence of imagination or creative thought. Then we play with the new idea to see how well it holds up and what the implications might be. (In music we ask: does a new idea about interpretation help reveal more about the essential character of the music, or does it distract or detract? What do I know about another piece that might apply to this one?) Once an idea is developed and examined, then we can consider how to express it with clarity and precision.
The elements of reflection, imagination, creativity, and play are crucial to having something to say and to saying it well – whether in words or in music.