But does musical talent really matter?
Musical ability isn’t a matter of luck at birth. Like language, it’s a skill that needs nurturing and development. French children speak French beautifully. Chinese children speak Chinese fluently.
If parents and teachers create a safe environment for learning and exploring new things, any child can learn their instrument. When parents ask me if their child has talent, I quickly assure them they do! When I see a student, I see endless possibilities, I see the potential to learn and develop into something incredible, wonderful, and beautiful. This potential exists in every child, especially yours.
If you’re wondering if your child is talented, I’d like you to set aside that question and instead answer these:
- Do I want my child to believe they can do anything?
- Do I want my child to make a connection between effort and achievement?
- Do I want my child to see themselves as limited by a supposed lack of talent?
- Do I want them to believe they can develop any skill they desire?
Music lessons shouldn’t be considered a “few months’ experiment” to see if the child has talent. Even if talent is innate or genetic, it needs to be nurtured and cultivated for a considerable time before it starts to “show.”
The very notion of talent suggests a limitation. Having talent seems like a finite resource: you are born with a certain amount, and that’s it. It is not possible to acquire more talent throughout life; it is only possible to waste it.
I think there’s nothing more disabling than “talent.”
For now, let’s all accept the principle that every child is born with the same capacity to develop talent or skill as a fact. Of course, there are children with special needs, but even these children are generally far more capable than we think.
In today’s society, quite a number of people seem to have the idea that if someone is born without talent, there is nothing that can be done about it; the person just resigned themselves to what they consider to be their ‘fate.’ Consequently, they go through life without really living, or knowing the true joy of living. This is man’s greatest tragedy. We are born with a natural ability to learn.
Whether this is good or bad, once we are born we have to live with ourselves until the day of our death. Then the inevitable question arises of how to live. If our ability has not been properly nurtured, we have to develop it ourselves. Instead of being defeated by misfortune, we have to make something good out of our lives.
There is no reason to give up in the face of discouragement; anyone can improve themselves.As parents, we have the power to nurture skill in our children. To teach them that it’s possible to get better, and that developing themselves is a key to happiness.
Who cares about talent? Let us be lifelong learners, striving to improve and grow at every moment.
