NO SUCH THING AS TALENT

[carl-swanson]

I remember hearing about a study that someone did in which(I believe) he asked many musicians how many hours a day they practiced. this idiot then came to the conclusion that there really is no such thing as talent, but that the really advanced virtuoso players simply practiced more.

Has anybody else heard about this ‘study?’ I’d like to find the source of this myself and find out who did the study and read what he studied and the conclusions he came to. I want to see for myself if his conclusions are really as idiotic as what I’ve heard.

[Kari Q]

Hi Carl,

I remember reading something similar to what you described here. The man I read about was Anders Ericsson. Here is a link to a short article in the New York Times about his experiment that I believe he went on to write a book about:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/magazine/07wwln_freak.html?ei=5090&en=2cf57fe91bdd490f&ex=1304654400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

I am not sure if this is the same thing you are talking about but his main point seems to be the old adage “practice makes perfect”.

Kari

[carl-swanson]

Kari- Thanks for the information. I read the article. it really doesn’t say anything there about music study, but maybe his book goes into that more. There are some interesting theories in the article, but I don’t see them relating to music very well at all. I may look for more information about him.

[unknown-user]

In educational terminology talent refers to a learned skill while giftedness refers to an innate skill. I suppose we are back to the nurture vs. nature debate. I have never understood the use of making such debates all or nothing. It’s pretty clear that ability is the result of a complex intertwining of both innate and learned abilities. And yes, the people at the top of their fields have a wealth of both. For everyone who practices several hours a day, there is someone else practicing those same hours with more innate ability. For every naturally gifted musician, there is another equally gifted practicing longer hours. It take every resource taken to its full advantage to rise above the masses.

[unknown-user]

Kari and Carl,

Here’s a link to an article about studies at Florida State University’s Center for Expert Performance Research.

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