Musical Talent: Innate or Learned?

Musical Talent: Innate or Learned?

Timothy Fisher

English 102

Lisa Moore

11 March 2013

Timothy Fisher

Lisa Moore

English 102: 13151

6 April 2013

Musical Talent: Innate or Learned?

From melodies in classical Mozart to modern pop hits on the radio, most people are surrounded by music every day of their lives in some way shape or form. Whether they play an instrument, listen to the radio, or play with popular apps such as Pandora, melody and rhythm are something that is built into our genes. This is not to say however that what society labels "talent" or "giftedness" is entirely genetic, because it assuredly is not. Along with genetics comes personal responsibility and environmental support such as culture and discipline. Cultural influences are what diversify music and create the different genres we know today such as: Pop, jazz, reggae, and Latin American. Discipline can be a part of culture and trains our minds to think in certain ways. The reason that parenting and discipline is so crucial at a young age is because it gives the child a set of guidelines in which are noticed as acceptable and right. With the right timing teaching can be extremely effective and last a lifetime.

In any genre of music prodigies can be found of all ages and sizes. For example, a young piano prodigy named Ethan Bornick received a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for headlining a solo concert tour at only the age of nine last year. Emily Bear is another popular piano prodigy who performed at the White House at age six and even composes her own music. Along with too many others to possibly name, is it safe to say that these people obviously are somewhat different than the rest of us? There are many studies and research that show that musical talent is neither strictly innate or learned, but rather a combination of the two that is ultimately determined by natural factors, parenting and discipline, and our measurement of talent.

Natural factors greatly play a role in determining someone's musical potential. From physically playing to simply listening and interpreting, humans do without a doubt have inborn features that allow some to appreciate or enjoy music more than others. Many studies have shown that musical talent and potential can are partially enhanced by more physical traits in our genes and DNA. Geneticists can use pronounced musically inclined families that are related to popular musicians to study whether or not musical "talent" has been passed down. It is an interesting topic because many family members in direct blood relationship with popular singer John Lennon have profound evidence of natural appreciation for music. To continue with the John Lennon family tree, he married with another artist named Yoko Ono (John Lennon 2013). Together they had a son named Sean Lennon, who is also a musician. Along with Sean, John had another son with Cynthia Powell, who was not a musician; however she was enrolled in the Liverpool College of Art, and needless to say was an artsy and creative person (John Lennon). Julian Lennon was born from John and Cynthia, and was undoubtedly a musician who was inclined in the arts as well (John Lennon 2013). Family trees such as this can provide interesting information and are important to study in order to understand how genetics exactly affects your gifted abilities. This concentrated area of family talent can also be discouraging to people who are pursuing music yet does not believe they have what it takes. Irma Jär¬vela is a geneticist who conducted a study in order to physically determine how much genetic ability has been passed down in similar types of families. Jär¬vela gave musical aptitude tests to family members of successful and well known musicians of all types in order to see whether this concentrated talent is unique to certain families. Her results were quite informative and revealed about a general fifty percent hereditability of musical intelligence. Her findings showed that about half of the people tested had significantly higher than average scores in pitch, resolution, melody and rhythm than the average person (Jär¬vela). These people tended to have fine-tuned ears that could detect flat notes, key signatures, and other skills that may take the average person awhile to learn. In other words they had key innate advantages that proved them more musically inclined, whether they pursued music or not, than the ordinary person (Jär¬vela). Geneticists are currently delving into hereditary musicality to identify the specific molecules that aid in musical giftedness. Until then, it is safe to say that musicality can partially be delivered genetically.

Taking a closer anatomical approach to musicality is called cognitive neuroscience of music (Spitzka). It is essentially the study of the explicit brain mechanisms that support behaviors in music. These behaviors can be different aspects of music such as pitch, melody, tone, rhythm. Cognitive neuroscience attempts to precisely find the anatomical part of the brain that is responsible for that ability. For example studies in cognitive neuroscience show that pitch, harmony, and rhythm tend to be perceived by the right auditory cortex in the right hemisphere of the brain (Spitzka). This brings up the interesting classic study of "right-brained" and "left-brained" people often studied in psychology. According to studies, a person can either be "left-brained" or "right-brained" which then determines sets of characteristics that that person may have; of course people are not entirely one or the other, but rather a mix. This is similar to horoscopes in that they present stereotypes that people may fall into. A "left-brained" person tends to be more straightforward and book-smart rather than creative and spontaneous like a "right-brained" person. Cognitive neuroscience supports this study due to primary aspects of music being heavily reliable on the right side of the brain, which is labeled as the creative side (Spitzka).

Gender has also been proven to be a slight determination of musical talent. This is not to say that one is anatomically more naturally inclined than the other, but rather males and females process music differently. Females process music bilaterally between the two hemispheres of the brain, and males dominantly process in the right hemisphere (Garth