Talent. Is it Really 60% Nature, 40% Nurture, Or What?

[CandidPicker]

I can't write a lyric to save my life.

You likely have not discovered any illusive and rare fish species either, then, Les...

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Test #1

Can you tap your foot to 4/4?

Bluegrass 4/4, or regular 4/4?

 

[opnoob]

It's a little bit like the "hard work versus good luck" debate, you need to have both in equal measure. Samuel Goldwyn was quoted as saying "The harder I work, the luckier I get." I see a lot of the same in music: I have known musicians with oodles of natural talent who never developed it or took it anywhere, and I have seen folks who absolutely love music but still cannot keep a beat or hold a tune after decades of work. You need the natural talent as well as the interest and the drive to develop it. It's 50-50 in my opinion. I always had a natural inclination to music but I'll be the first to admit I lacked the drive and the discipline to push it to the next level, which is why I never wanted to be a professional musician, just a serious amateur.

Definitely. Natural talent is like having the concert ticket. Practise and hard work is the taxi that takes you there. Good genetics is just a prerequisite to greatness, it usually amounts to very little on average because people lack the conviction. Its always hard to compare two situations where there are two or more variables. So, its always better to keep one factor constant ie. given two individuals practise the exact same way and for the exact same hours, what is the difference in result? That answer is much more meaningful than any conclusion drawn from two individuals with varying degrees of practise or circumstances.

 

[jak3af3r]

Bluegrass 4/4, or regular 4/4?

We used to ask the same thing about keys. Song is called in the key of A. "Is this A major or A bluegrass?"

Even better that that was just calling it in the key of bluegrass which was G.

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

I don't understand why I can write music, especially orchestral music, and others can't do the exact same thing.

I've done a little research - just enough to be dangerous - that leads me to conclude that talent is 60% nsture and 40% nurture.

But that's just a guess based on reading STUFF. I don't really know. Yet, I'd like to know this because:

My son's a terrific composer. My granddaughter does amazing things in professional musical theater. I have two ancestors who were composers. Is it nature, or nurture? Incidentally, my parents were musical but couldn't compose.

Thoughts??

One more question: If you can compose music, is it at all important that you do so?

You are actually on the right track! The idea of nature vs. nurture is over psychologically it is definitely a combination of nurture and nature. You have proof that there is a genetic component to music for you which is another variable that we know plays a role in development.
As far as your question of if you can compose music should you? Only if it brings you joy. If it does nothing for you why would you?

 

[JasonE]

This is an interesting topic. I haven't read all of the responses yet but I will.

For me, I think it is nurture. I think knowing music theory is a huge benefit. It helps you know what will work better in the situation you are trying to create. I personally, haven't been super successful with writing. That is because I usually give up. I am starting to put more of an emphasis on this and working on a couple of things and am going to try to force myself to complete them.

With that said, I have a short piece that I have worked on a bit and am struggling with it. I have it in my head. I have found the key that it works in. I have a loose structure to it. I have lyrics. I have discovered that I am probably going to need another line or two in the lyrics to cover the time of the song. I am having one heck of a time figuring out where the lyrics need to start to get it like I hear it in my head. Hopefully I can resolve this the next time I set down with it. This is the first piece that I have had lyrics for. I really want to get this to work because I have another idea that is going to be much more difficult. This is my learning project to get me up to doing the next one.

 

[gush]

Yeah! I’m not necessarily defining success purely on money or fame (because then I’d have to go stick my head in the toaster) but more of a proficiency at a creative task that is celebrated or acknowledged (even if it’s just playing for friends or putting on SoundCloud and garnering like, 4 likes and 3 downvotes. Lol)

It takes so much time to develop your voice. And I think it’s easier to do that when you’re not worried about where your next meal is coming from, for instance.

Now, I can compose some (admittedly BS) orchestral music or cues really. I used to do them for friend’s student films, indie game temps, or just musical exercises for fun. But I believe that it was only partly talent, and more likely because I was allowed to nurture it, and was nurtured.

My mommy scraped together the rest of the cash to allow me to buy an Akai 12 track in the 80’s, and I may had done some semi nefarious things to afford an Emax and some janky modules that I could stack in her basement. I was able to front-load my life altering between gigging and being a hermit trapped in a “studio”.

I don’t think I would’ve had the time, drive, and desire to learn how to do that without the nurture part.

I kind of agree. A person with a "safety net" may be inclined to take greater risks to achieve what they're after.

Without that safety net your risks are much different.

 

[JasonE]

Alright, I have read through the thread. I will add some information about myself since this seems to be part of the conversation as well.

Where does it come from? Beats me. The only thing my parents played was the radio. I can't think of any other family members that were musicians in any way shape or form in the extended family. I picked up the guitar when I was maybe around 9. There was just something in music that moved me. I liked the beats and loved the sound of guitar playing. I was self taught and played in groups when I was younger. I felt like I was not progressing and hadn't for a good while so I went to a friend for lessons. I spent about a year with him. It cleared up all of the questions I had about the theory that I did know and we added a good bit to that knowledge. I went on to teach others for a while.

I have played in church and a bunch of different cover bands. I have a good ear and with the theory knowledge I have, I am able to learn songs at a decent rate. I was getting pretty good at being a human jukebox at one point. I am a bit rusty now but know I could work that back up pretty fast. I guess I have had good luck finding songs that I really like that others like so they went on the song lists for the bands. I have really found a lot of enjoyment playing for crowds and watching the music move them. I will probably never forget the first time I was playing in a church and saw the music we were playing drive people to tears because it touched them so deeply.

I am at a place in life now that I still want to play and would love for that to be in front of people. However, I don't want to be up late nights anymore and dragging all of the PA gear around and setting it up and tearing it down for peanuts for pay. If I could do this where I was playing afternoon gigs with a provided PA and soundman, I would be in. Due to feeling this way at this point in life, I am now starting to explore more with recording and creating my own music. I am finding it much, much tougher than learning someone else's songs. I am going to keep trying. If I can make this work, I can see me doing this for a good while.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Test #1

Can you tap your foot to 9/8?

FF to 2:24 if you don’t want to watch it all.

For Sting I think it was nature.

 

[László]

FF to 2:24 if you don’t want to watch it all.

For Sting I think it was nature.

Sting is a serious talent. Has it all.