do you think you're talented in music?

[bluewiz]

I'm frustrated, i studied guitar since i was 15, now i know i won't get anywhere.
do you believe there's somthing like "talent"? or all you need is just hardwork?

[Iron Horse]

You have to have talent and work hard to get extremely good. If you want to be just really good, hard work alone will do. Talent is good but overrated.

[Guitarbumb]

having talent is good but its nothing without the drive ansd persistance to continue using that talent and taking it somewhere.

[Zerberus]

I know I´m not talented but that doesn't keep me from pissing off my neighbors on a daily basis

[JacksonMIA]

Like I tell everyone: I play guitar like DLR and sing like Eddie.

'nuff said.

[metlking]

I've been told I'm talented, but I don't buy into that. Theres hundreds of dudes in town who can play circles around me. I could care less. I have a blast playing onstage and at the end of the night the audience has been entertained by my band. Thats enough for me!

[Virtual Kevorkian]

I think I've got a certain knack for it... not sure if that's born out of hard work/dedication or some kind of innate ability? I have synesthesia, though, which would lead me to believe I've got some predisposition to music!

[phil_104]

To me talent is a series of variants that come together to create a certain degree of aptitude. Natural rhythm, manual dexterity, ear for pitch, creativity, will to invest time and general musicality are only a few factors the contribute to what everyone refers to as talent.

Do I think it exists? Yes I do. But I also think that talent is different from one person to another. David Gilmour is not talented in the same way Van Halen is, even though they are both extremely, insanely gifted individuals.

I think I have talent, but I think a lot of it in my case is my will to invest time, and my way of being lyrical about my playing. There are many people who are more talented than me out there, in the same way, or in completely different ways.

[LesStrat]

Some people seem to think I am.

I tend to measure my strengths more in line with the Lemur-dude, though.

[Diocletian]

I think I'm talented, and other musicians tell me I am, but then I hear people like Virtual Kevorkian playing technical death metal type stuff and I think I suck.
But I have fun, and if things had turned out differently, and I had been a more motivated person, I think my level of talent would have been enough to be successfull.

I think drive and motivation are more important than talent.

[loudriver23]

I believe that talent alone is not enough to "Get Somewhere" in music. If I knew the formula to do so.... I wouldn't be working on PC's/Networks for a living, that much is certain!
Hard work, persistence, good decision making, willingness to adapt to market/audience changes and trends, a bit of good luck, and let's not forget the easiest way to make it...... have a parent, relative, close friend in a high up position at a record company. It's the whole who you know and how you blow paradigm that's worked for decades now.
Being talented helps, because at the end of the day, the acts that have stood the test of time all have one thing in common, great songs! That's the one thing that will keep you in the drivers seat once you do get the chance to shine. If you are a great song writer you reduce your chances of becoming that one and done kind of act.

[LesStrat]

I came to the realization that I don't love it enough to make a job of it.

I have fun when I play. I'd like to keep it that way.

[DesertRat]

I'm talented in the songwriting dept., have decent technical skills/knowledge and average coordination, what I suck at is promotion, hobnobbing, and networking.

[wahwah]

Yes, I think I'm talented, but I also think that there is nothing rare or unusual about talent. It is everywhere, manifested in many different forms and to various degrees. It could be seen as an aptitude in a particular area, which makes the persistence and dedication required to become proficient a possibility. The way it manifests is a very individual matter, but talent itself is nothing unusual.




Cheers...................................... wahwah

[JB_From_Hell]

I think I've got a certain knack for it...

Same here. I don't think anybody gets to be good without working very hard, but I think "talent" lets you get past some of the initial hurdles more easily than others.

I came to the realization that I don't love it enough to make a job of it.

I have fun when I play. I'd like to keep it that way.

I'm the same but way worse. I don't even like the idea of being committed to a regular gigging band.

When I'm into it, I love it, and that's all I want to do. When I'm not, I can't even fake it.

[ksmith63]

I believe that I'm talented. Everyone is to some extent but most people that I know who play music haven't ever tried to find it. I have found my niche/ am really good at the things that I do but also I stay away from the things I can't do.

[exnihilo]

I have about as much talent as the instrument I'm playing does.

cg

[Mark Cearlock]

I think I'm talented enough to amuse myself and thats about all. (I'm amused easily)

[Dr.Mavashi]

Hard work and vision, that is - targeted hard work, is 80% of it. As far as talent goes ..... well, lets take YJM and Lynch for example, YJM has an amazing pitch not only developed by learning so many songs by ear in the earlier stage, but also the very reason of his pitch perfection is that it was relatively easy for him in the beginning, and as he learned more and more stuff by ear his natural pre-disposition for this developed into a phenomenal level of a skill, and that, I am sure became a huge confidence driver for him to develop his own style and execute it with the conviction that he does/did. Lynch admitted numerously to both, always playing catch up, weather it is EVH or YJM breaking on to the scene and still having hard time learning songs by ear even at this stage. Yet, I am sure that these two short comings were his drives to develop his uniquely signature style that he has. He had the musicality and taste to recognize Uli and Jeff Beck as something extra ordinary as well as recognizing EVH and YJM in the later years and this ability translated into his intuition, to sort of be an observer of himself while noodling and to spot things that sounded unique and constructively developing them into his signature style. Like his accented use of the flat fifth in the double stops during the rhythm playing as well as during the leads or the use of his stretched out pinky in combination with the "gothic" octave to shape his signature phrasing. So, my point is that talent is an ability to find a driver in your playing that not only finds your identity as a musician but also sustains a continuous evolvement of this identity.

[Jay 77]

Nah, no talent here. Just a guy with a hobby that he loves!