Why I Don’t Believe in Natural Talent
Somewhere along the way we humans decided that some people are just musically gifted and some people are not. A common fear I hear from my adult guitar students amounts to this phrase:
“What if I’m tone deaf or have no sense of rhythm?”
Most of my adult students who are just learning guitar have a story of someone in their life telling them they are tone deaf or lack rhythm. As they grew up they began to subscribe to the belief. They internalized the idea that they aren’t musical or they have no natural talent for music. These voices are the reason they until adulthood to try to learn a musical instrument or learn to sing. They develop a firm sort of safety in the identity of “I can’t sing” or “I don’t have a musical bone in my body.” I have a hunch that many adults wish they could play guitar and have just adopted the myth that they are incapable.
I’ve worked with many adults who are learning music for the first time in their lives. For each of these students, I’ve developed personalized guitar practice methods and tools to develop their awareness, understanding, and muscle memory.
I do not believe in natural talent.
We all learn in different ways. Some of us need all the facts before we consider making a move, others need to make a mess and learn as they go. Learning guitar is the same. There are as many ways to learn as there are different people. All learning comes in spurts and stops, occasionally slow and steady and sometimes with the “ah ha” moment where a missing piece of the puzzle suddenly fits together. I believe that if you can learn a little, you can learn a lot. If you can get your foot through the door, you are capable of opening it completely.
Practice Makes Perfect. Seriously.
For some reason with every other craft in life, we forget how important practice is. Your first time driving a manual transmission vehicle is going to be weird and probably won’t feel “natural” for several months of regular driving. Riding a bicycle takes practice while your balance develops. Even learning how to chop vegetables quickly takes practice! Gordon Ramsey has probably spent hundreds of hours chopping vegetables. He probably cut his fingers a few times along the way.
I could go on but you get it: everything involves practice. Every artist you love didn’t sound very good when they first started playing music. Skills take time to develop. No one sits down with a guitar for the first time and plays something amazing! You’ll need to spend at least a couple months working on your guitar technique before you can even consider wether or not you’re talented.
Knowledge + Practice = Talent
My guitar lessons in Seattle center around the firm belief that everyone can play music. But I’m also hyper aware that adults sometimes have baggage around learning an instrument - voices bouncing around their head telling them they are not musically gifted. This cultural myth of “natural talent” saddens me, because people out there have convinced themselves that they shouldn’t even bother trying if they don’t have a knack for it! Even though they’ve never really given it a good try. I want to be sensitive to your fears but also very firm about the fact that with a little practice YOU CAN DO IT. I CAN (and want to) HELP YOU.