Know Talent?... NO Talent!

We often hear people say to us, “You’re so talented.”

We know that this is a genuine compliment of our playing and our skills - while we appreciate where this comes from - we want to spread awareness about the reality of “musical ability.”

One does not BE a musician, but BECOMES a musician through practice, hard work, and many, many failures.

People will say that they are “not musical” or they “don’t have a musical bone in their bodies”, as if they are not born with a musical gene. Luckily for them: That is not true. You can play an instrument, sing, or write music! You first need to WANT to do it; COMMIT to it for years; and lastly PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!

We all start at square 1; and EVERYONE is capable of playing music at a high level. We both started learning our craft at an elementary school age: having weekly private lessons, daily practice, and a lifelong commitment through college and graduate degrees. Lilian remembers getting up at 5 AM every morning whilst an elementary aged student to practice her instrument before school!

Here is a great summary and explanation of Hard Work over talent by Music U!

“‘Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.’”

― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

“The ‘10,000-Hour’ Rule”

“…’The thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That’s it. And what’s more, the people at the very top don’t work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.’”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

“Gladwell argues in his book that people others view as having achieved world-class success are successful simply because they put in the hours – 10,000 hours, to be exact. While you don’t need to put in 10,000 hours to become a more confident musician, the basic principle can certainly be applied to practicing your instrument.”

“Unlike the romantic and lovable storylines great books and novels feed us, the reality is that ‘everyday’ piano players don’t get ‘good’ at piano because they were predisposed for it. They get better because they spend time practicing. The people who excel at playing music spend nights and weekends glued to their instruments. While they may not have 10,000 hours to spare, they’re passionate about playing music. To these musicians, practice outweighs talent.”

“Good musicians listen, work on technique, and work on scales and chord progressions. All those people that always seem to be naturally “gifted” and better than you only appear better because they’ve put in the time.”

“The moral of the story? Talent doesn’t make a musician – practice does. If you want to master your craft, forget talent and dedicate yourself to putting in the time. After all, ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’ (Tim Notke).”

Work Cited:

(Musical U Team) “The Talent Myth: Why Talent is the Least Important Part of Being a Musician”. Musical U, easy ear training ltd. 2023 https://www.musical-u.com/learn/talent-myth-talent-important-musician/#