Natural Ability vs Practice

Which is more important? Do you think your favorite musicians have an innate, natural ability that the rest of us mere mortals simply don't possess, or is it just that they have spent countless hours advancing in tiny increments over a long period of time. I know which one it is for me!

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[Cajundaddydave]

The eternal battle- Nature vs nurture, natural talent vs hard work.  
I appreciate your perspective but I gotta say in my own observations, to get to the top rung and achieve excellence, it really requires both. On the one hand, no one with pure natural talent that picks up an instrument or sings will ever make it without really digging deep and putting in a ton of hard work, sweat, determination, and thousands of hours practicing their craft. On the other hand, we are all given a mix of natural gifts and abilities and they are all a very different mix. Whether we realize it or not, these gifts are a significant piece of who we are and what we tend to excel at. By following our gifts and talents, consciously or unconsciously we have the best chance to achieve excellence in our lives.

As a kid I knew that I had some natural musical gifts. I was attracted to music and could sing and whistle in tune at a young age. Like a mockingbird I had some natural musical ability. As I put in those thousands and thousands of hours developing these gifts I came to see vast differences between people around me with similar training and practice levels in terms of natural ear, ability to hear a complex melody once and repeat it verbatim, spelling out complex chords, perfect pitch etc..  
A few examples:
-A gal I know who loves music but simply is unable to sing Do Re Mi or the birthday song in tune. She cannot hear it and she is not alone.
-My grandson who could sing all of the Disney songs in tune, in the original key and correct tempo, A cappella at age 4. Two years ago at age 7 he sang Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" at a recital and brought the house down. He practiced it maybe 10 times in total.
-EVH who during piano lessons at age 8 ignored learning to read music. He fooled his teacher and memorized entire pieces completely by ear after hearing them a few times. He went on to change the guitar world forever.
-Mozart who was composing his first musical score at age 5.
-Rick Beato's son Dylan who demonstrated perfect pitch and could spell out complex chords and intervals at a very young age. (4?)

Yes there are musicians who developed a boatload of musical ability long before they had ever engaged in serious focused practice and it is as dangerous to ignore this as it is to ignore the hard work required to fully develop these gifts and become a highly exceptional musician or any endeavor. It really does require a boatload of both talent AND serious focused practice to become exceptional at music, sports, mathematics, language, visual arts, and many other things.  

My own unscientific observation over a lifetime of both music and sports is that "nature vs nurture" is probably around 50/50. You GOTTA bring something very significant to the game and you GOTTA spend thousands hours to fully develop it and truly achieve excellence.  Studies on perfect pitch traits among families and identical twins who were separated at birth yet displayed strikingly similar skills and abilities support this view.

Appreciate the genuine gifts you were given and develop them to your greatest ability.
Cheers!

[trevorclarey]

After playing for over 50 years it's still good to hear this .

[TheFeelButton]

Practice wins. When you've practiced enough that people start saying you have natural talent then the real work begins. Cheers Justin!

[tomcarmody]

I'm 62 and 4 years into my guitar journey. I thought at the beginning that I would be good after 4 years. I now see how much work it takes and am trying to do more focused practice, not just learn another song. I'll now put my computer down and pick up my guitar! Thanks for the motivation. I just stumbled on to your site thanks to the youtube algorithm. You have a new subscriber.

[brettdiaz]

My brother and I were just talking about this subject. We both play in cover bands and people will say I wish I was naturally talented like you. We’re both like, it’s the countless hours of work that goes into it. I completely get what you’re saying.

[KC]

I appreciate your comments about the hard work required (versus talent). It gives me hope and encourages me to trust the process. Thanks.

[BillDutton]

Good stuff! Those neural pathways don't wire themselves, those ears don't train themselves.

Appreciate ya Justin.

[jomojustin]

100% agree. You don’t become great at anything without substantial practice even if you have “natural ability”. Set goals, embrace the practice journey, play the long game, and don’t compare yourself to others and you’ll find consistent success in whatever you want to accomplish.

[ChristopherOrth]

Natural talent is like overnight success… powerful illusions.

[thedude]

I am so glad you addressed this natural ability comment. My wife tells me this all the time because I don't know any music theory, and never had any lessons, but what she doesn't understand is the countless amount of hours I have put into this over the past 35 years.

[markedwards]

I have sometimes pondered the question as to why I am not a professional grade player and I think the key here is the focused practice, focusing on improving. I can speak as someone who practiced a lot and got nowhere. I was lazy, I lied to myself that I was doing really well and getting better and better. All of it was rubbish. It wasn’t until I was honest with myself (and that took a long time) that I was able to change my mindset and really make some solid progress. I think it’s easy to blame a lack of talent, for me and I suspect many others, it’s a lack of application and the ability to convince yourself that you are a better player than you really are. I just wish I had realised my own faults earlier.

[duaneegeberg]

no shit!! ive spent two decades developing my ear!! so can hear .. without need for theory.. theory is helpful! but hearing is everything!!

[jimholloway]

I find your message liberating. Student guitarists are bombarded by lots of different "systems" and approaches to the instrument and I find it overwhelming. Thanks for emphasizing what's most important...learning to be musical and using one's ears. I've read that Charlie Parker said not to approach practice as a series of drills but to think of it as spending time with your instrument.

[kyrandell]

Hi Justin, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your show and today was particularly rewarding.
As always you provide honest, complete and heartfelt advice and information with care and humility.
Thank you. It is sincerely appreciated.

I would also like to highlight the thoughtfulness, care and consideration you provide to those comments that are ill-informed and, at best, poorly made.
Your positive and generous response is a wonderful quality and should hopefully provide inspiration and a helpful way forward to those particular individuals.
To state what should be clearly obvious to most people, Music is a joy. And whatever genre you select, the musicians within it have spent a lifetime of dedication, practice and commitment.

There is a wealth of quality music coming out of Nashville (and elsewhere!) currently and if the heart, passion and emotion within it is not immediately apparent to some commenters, their questioning of the use of the Nashville numbering system, modes, current styles etc reveals they're clearly missing the essential point - it's about creating GREAT MUSiC!.🙂

Best wishes, Ky

[PeteLamont]

I enjoy you showing off the mug while also wearing the Five Watt World shirt!

[erikberg]

Great follow up to the modes discussion, and so happy to see the love for @5wattworld !

[robzagar]

Thank you for the insightful video. As a beginner southpaw playing right-handed I get so frustrated. It’s so hard to coordinate my right hand . Your words are so helpful!

[tonyz]

“If you weren’t thinking you wouldn’t have thought that” quote from the sandlot when Benny is teaching smalls how to catch- great advice for music to lol

[AussieEnglishPodcast]

Your channel is great, mate. Please keep going :D

[superreality]

Hi Justin and all the Ostrander-Landers out there. I have really come to value your videos this year, thanks for all the work that goes in.
Your views here MUST be correct. Otherwise none of us would ever improve and we'd all give up. I have little natural ability other than a life- long love of music. But REALLY practicing in last few years I can ferl I have improved and watching your ideas has helped that, too.
People, never give up. It takes time and a bit of structured devotion, but so does everything we want to succeed in.
Mery Christmas Justin