Performance

talent is overated

If you're reading this, I’m sure you've heard quite a lot about the relationship between talent and music, and how much mystical talent you might need in order to be a great musician.

 Maybe there’s some talk of the percentage of talent or the ratio that is required. Fine, I agree! Talent is important and very much needed, but is it really fair to say, ‘oh, this or that person is so talented’? when perhaps it would be better to say ‘wow, you must be so passionate, determinate, disciplined and hard working.’ 

I’m not saying that playing a musical instrument means Whiplash in real life. We might experience some blisters here and there on our fingers, a stiff arm or sore lips. But when you love it, and playing music is the way you choose to express yourself, if you see a piece of music and KNOW the story behind all the lines and dots then… all that work is just pleasure, right? Let’s not forget that it is a struggle sometimes, too.

Being amazing doesn’t automatically come from our DNA but from practice and determination over many years. And not just any work, but a very narrow, specific and sometimes alienating kind of work. The key to that ‘talent’ is how you practice, how you analyse the progress of your work and learn from what wasn’t that great. All mistakes are learning curves. All of this leads you, if you’re lucky, to maybe hear one day ‘you are so talented’. And then the decision is yours:

A. You can say ‘thank you’.
B. Send them to this blog post

Ways of practicing have as many as theories of what was first, egg or chicken. Unfortunately, I’m not here to give you the perfect solution for success. However, whatever it is that you do, make sure you love it, it makes you feel good, it gives you goosebumps and you feel proud of yourself. Make sure you plan as well as you can and you give yourself plenty of rest, you can be hyper-productive if you dream of… dreaming!

But we are an Institute, and we are here to help. Make sure you follow our Advice Points for some useful, professional tips!