The talent myth: How to maximise your creative potential

[faulty_damper]

If you suck at playing the piano, and we were all probably there or are currently there now, then here's a good article that summarizes decades of psychological research on the idea of "talent".

This is the outline for the article:
I. stare
II. steal
III. be stupid
IV. choose spartan over luxury
V. hard skill or soft skill?
VI. focus on the hard skills
VII. don't fall for the talent myth
VII. find a high-quality teacher
 
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-talent-myth-how-to-maximise-your-creative-potential-8073427.html

[p2u_]

Yes, I've read this article before. I agree to a great extent. I would like to add, though, that we should learn from prodigies and masters we worship. They are normal people; it's we who often fall behind by worrying about the wrong things. They just do what they do, and that's why they become/are good at it. Nothing special in the genes...

Paul

[faulty_damper]

Years ago, I used to really suck at the piano.  I didn't know how to practice and would go to lesson, week after week, not having accomplished anything.  My teacher finally had to let me go because she couldn't do anything for me.  My next teacher also kicked me out of his studio.  And my next teacher, he was too nice to kick me out, so I withdrew from lessons on my own.

It was then that I stumbled by chance this video on YT:

I had heard his recorded version two years earlier but didn't think much of it; it was just the same etude but with just more notes.  But seeing him play it, it was then that I was mesmerized that he was only playing it with his left hand alone.  He made it look easy.  It was then that I set out to learn the same Godowsky etude, not to actually play it, but to see if I could accomplish anything.  It took several months, but I finally learned it.

My technique and form, now, when I am at the piano looks incredibly similar to Hamelin's.  I wasn't trying to imitate him, but trying to make playing easy.  I accomplished that.  I can make difficult piano pieces look really easy (because they are.)

It's strange how different I am as a pianist compared to the past.  I thought I wasn't talented, that I had to have started playing when I was four to be any good (I started when I was 20).  I was frustrated by everything.  But then seeing that video, seeing that playing is actually easy (the staring part) made the biggest difference from the years of instruction I received.

[dcstudio]

.  But then seeing that video, seeing that playing is actually easy (the staring part) made the biggest difference from the years of instruction I received.

It is that very idea--accepting it was EASY and that I was making it WAY harder than it was--that allowed me to finally get over "I suck" syndrome.   It changed my life...  practicing was no longer a chore but the focus of my entire day.   The revelation was so profound to me that I describe it almost like a religious experience....and in a way...it was...

YES!

[outin]

There is a difference in thinking "I suck" in general and admitting to yourself that you are lacking something that is needed to become great. Considering all the requirements to become a great piano player, eveybody just don't have the qualities needed for that and I think it's just wise to be aware of your limitations and try to get around them the best you can. Saying that talent does not exist is really unfair to those people who don't have as much of it.

Talent is definitely real, but it's just not some mysterious thing that people often think. It just means that you have the right combination of physical and mental properties to be able to handle everything that you encounter with more or less work. To make it simple: A person with 10 working fingers is more talented than a person with only 9. They can both learn to play the piano but one will be able to do things the other cannot and the learning will be more straightforward.

[dcstudio]

 Saying that talent does not exist is really unfair to those people who don't have as much of it.

  lol.   but much is unfair to those of little talent...