Talent Takes Practice!

I hate to admit it, but there have been times when I thought to myself, “I don’t think this student has any natural musical ability. In fact, there have been times I’ve wondered if they even had the ability to learn piano at all! My experience, though, has contradicted those initial concerns. You know why? Because like everything else in life, the more you do something, the better you’ll become. In my opinion, that’s a fact. 

Talent is learned. Specifically, it’s learned through repetition. True; a gift, or “natural talent”, might stand in its own, separate category. But far too often, we hear someone play an instrument, create a painting, or erect a building, and we assume they were created with some talent. We may even say something like, “I wish I could do that. I’m just not talented in that way…”

Excuse me! Don’t diminish their hard work! They practiced, practiced, and practiced! At Wagner’s School of Music, 99% of our students come in with no musical ability, knowledge, or talent. Sure, plenty of moms rave about the way their sons can poke around and find similar notes on the piano to what they hear on Spotify, or dads will exclaim, “My daughter can clap right on beat!”, but the fact is that these kids are total beginners. I’ve seen it in my own kids. 

My oldest daughter began taking a group piano class at Wagner’s when she was 6 years old. That was 10 years ago, which means she’s had 10 years of practice, repetition, challenge, and maybe best of all, positive peer pressure from her classmates who are working just as hard as her. Now 16 years-old, she’s chosen to play a Hans Zimmer piece for this year’s recital, she performed a Chopin waltz for the previous year’s recital, and she filled our house with Debussy’s “Clair De Lune” during last winter’s colder months. If one were to ask her friends to tell us something she’s good at, they’d undoubtedly say, “music!”. She’s a really good musician!”. 

Do you know why she’s a really good musician? It’s because she’s been practicing at least 5 days-a-week for 10 years! She’s probably played piano more than 1000 days! The same results would exist for any other activity, such as golf, swimming, or dancing.   

I’ve taught piano at Wagner’s for 25 years. I can confidently tell you that anyone who practices for 10 years will undoubtedly be considered a “talented” pianist. And yes, they are talented. They’re talented because they learned, they practiced, they repeated, and they worked at it. So the next time you’re impressed by someone’s abilities, along with complimenting their “talent”, you may also want to admire their work-ethic and dedication!