| Talent is the amount of work you don't have to do to better than the average person. It also sets a ceiling. Beyond a certain level, no amount of work will make you any better, because you fundamentally don't have the cognitive skill or physical ability to improve further. I've spent a fair amount of time with musicians, and talent can be very obvious. You can have a room full of people who have spent years practicing and been through a degree program. They're all outstanding compared to most of the population. But sometimes one person in that room will still stand out, because their playing will be insightful, compelling, and musical in a way the others can't match. It's an instant thing - it only takes a few bars to hear it. They won't necessarily have done the most work, or put the most hours in. But they will, in some absolutely fundamental way, "get it" - usually from birth. The hours and the work refine that ability and make it more obvious. But they can't create it. |