>Actually his statement is exactly right.
Perhaps I should have added a ;) at the end of my comment to indicate
sarcasm.
I'm fully aware that it's our songs that define our class and my songs are
memorised dynamically to compliment the abilities of the group I'm in.
Depending on the make-up of the group, I'm almost exclusively singing with
an instrument equipped during combat, hot-swapping and twisting as
necessary.
Defining characteristic or not, at lower levels (up to the mid-teens and
often beyond) a Bard's time is spent meleeing whilst singing. To dismiss
Bards from melee discussion because it "doesn't define us" perhaps shows a
lack of comprehension of a Bard's abilities and how one is played.