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Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 14:30:04 -0800
From: "IronMan Mike Curtis"
Subject: "Talent", was Re: practice

"Talent" is vastly overrated. Of the best musicians I know, every
last one of them spends most of their waking hours practicing. It's
well knowh that Jimi Hendrix practiced constantly. His family
reports that, in the morning when they'd leave for work, he was
practicing. When they got home, he was still practicing.

John Mayall didn't just happen across great guitarists. He MADE them
practice AT LEAST 8 hours a day.

I asked my good buddy Walter Trout (who played with Mayall) how much
he used to practice. "Oh, ALL the time!" was his answer.

I know a lot of truly great musicians who simply do NOT have "talent"
in the sense everyone uses the word - a natural inclination and
aptitude toward music. I know this because I see what they go
through to play music. Most people would throw in the towel and just
chalk themselves up to having a lead ear or no talent. But not these
folks. They bust their tails day and night, and are good musicians
through nothing but sheer determination. I see them fumbling for
chords, melody lines, rhythms, and such while practicing, working on
each and every lick until it's perfect.

"Oh, but that's a talent", someone may say. No, it's NOT a talent.
It's nothing but pure bullheaded stubbornness, persistence,
determination, etc. It's an ethic - a work ethic.

The word "talent" is demeaning to everyone who works hard to be a
good musician. It's also an excuse for those too lazy to put in the
work and pay their dues. Basically, it's saying that musicians are
pretty much "born" with the ability to play good music. It negates
the 50 years I've put into harmonica playing, the 37 years of guitar
playing and singing, 35 years playing bass, 30 years playing bass
pedals, etc., and saying that "Oh, he was born with that".

And that's kind of funny, because I tried out for glee club in
school, and didn't make it. So much for being "born with it", eh?

Do we say that a doctor has "talent"? Probably not. "Oh, no - he
went to school for seven years!"

But a musician who's spent fifty years in "school" is "talented".

Some of us may come to the table with a little more ability than
others, but in the end it is hard work and ONLY hard work that
matters.

Ask yourself which compliment you'd rather receive:

"Wow! You're SO talented!"

or

"Wow! You must have worked VERY hard getting that tune to sound so
good!"

On 14 Dec 2001, at 16:30, alcie~idmaine.com wrote:

> British psychologist, John Sloboda, conducted a study of musical
> talent. He looked at 258 musicians age 10-16, interviewed them and
> their parents and compared their results in England's national music
> examination system. The best prediction of how you would perform on
> the test was how long you practiced, and how much support your family
> gave you. On average, children ranking high on the test practiced 800%
> more than the children who scored low.
>
> This does not disprove the concept of talent. Most of us, even if we
> practice, won't reach the levels of John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, or
> Big Mama Thornton. It does show that talent, without practice, doesn't
> get you very far. It also shows that with practice, anyone can be
> proficient with a musical instrument.
>
> Rainbow Jimmy
> http://www.spaceanimals.com
> http://www.mp3.com/spaceanimals
>
>

- -IronMan Mike Curtis LIVE video of Mikes #1 MP3 hit PLAY THEM BLUES
http://bumpngrindrecords.com/ironman_play_blues.ram
See the whole feature length video http://www.ironmancurtis.com/imc.rm
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