Are your natural talents decided at birth? Is songwriting skill written into your genetic destiny?
As it turns out, I don’t have inborn talent for songwriting, and neither do you. Most people think of “talent” as a gift, something that comes naturally to those who have it. But scientists have studied high achievers closely, and all of those achievers practice for hours every day. The more practice they get, the better they become.
The verdict is in. Great songwriters aren’t born-they’re made.
Talent is NOT a gift.
When people call talent a gift, they’re dead wrong. Talent is not a gift-it’s earned. It’s the result of practice, study, and experience. In other words, it’s the result of doing things that don’t come naturally, and doing them until, after dozens of hours of practice, those once-impossible things finally do become second nature.
Here’s the scary part: if you believe that talent is inborn, you could be stunting your own growth as a songwriter without even realizing it.
Learning accelerators
Sure, there are advantages that can help you learn songwriting faster:
- previous experience with writing, speaking, or music
- access to good learning materials and teachers
- ability to focus
- good practice habits
- But all of these advantages can be acquired and improved over time. They’re not just handed out at birth.
Your potential as a songwriter isn’t limited by genetics or anything else outside your control. You are the one who decides how far you will go to sharpen your skills. You are the one who decides whether this songwriting thing is just a fun dalliance or a serious, lifelong pursuit.
It’s all up to you. Like any other life skills for teens or adults, this also is a skill that needs to be honed with time. Certainly, nobody is born proficient, everyone learns it here in this world, be it singing, cooking, dancing, or any other skill for that matter.
Mastery has humble beginnings.
Getting great at anything takes time, desire, and effort. Songwriting is no exception.
So if you ever find yourself getting depressed or anxious about your lack of skill in some area of music or lyric writing, take a deep breath and remember:
The skills of songwriting don’t come naturally or easily to anyone. If you get stuck, rest assured that you are not defective. With time and determination-and possibly the help of a teacher or a fellow songster-you can overcome even the biggest, nastiest obstacles and move forward again.
You can fill the gaps in your knowledge, one at a time.
You can build on your strengths.
And you can strengthen your weaknesses.
In short: yes, you can become great, just a little bit at a time.
And you can go on working at this craft a little every day, stacking and stacking those daily sessions as your songs start to sound better and better.
When in doubt, do the work.
You can revise a song eleven times if that’s what the song needs. From major foundational cracks to little issues of style and phrasing, any song can slowly be repaired, reinforced, and generally shored up. You can rewrite the verse. You can insert a bridge.
And by showing up day after day to learn new things and practice this craft, you can revise yourself, too. Never forget that you can rewrite yourself, one line at a time.
Talent isn’t born, it’s made. So relax. If you ever fall into a funk where you’re unhappy with your skills and unhappy with your songs, remember that this is a long road. Expect progress, not perfection.
This post is a preview of the new Art of Daily Practice course, which starts on July 12, 2013.
Hey Nick,
It’s wonderful to hear that someone else sees these giant icebergs of truth floating around… A welcome confirmation that I’m not the only crazy person staring out his window….
Thank you, I’m so looking forward to the course…
To your writing,
Pearse
If believing in hard work makes a person crazy, slap me into a strait jacket right here and now, man.
Thanks Pearse; I can’t wait to start the course. It’s going to be a blast.
I’ve thought about this a LOT, an unhealthy amount, I think, but my belief is that talent is real and that we are all born with a mix of talents. Yes, to get really good at something you have to work at at, but there some things no amount of work can overcome. Take me, for example. I have never had good rhythm. I love rhythm, my favorite guitar player is Keith Richards, when I write my songs I think about rhythm incessantly and usually do hundreds of takes until I am satisfied I’ve found the right rhythm, even though the track still does not sound good. Then I call Tim and have him play the part based on my crummy demo!
Agreed, there are some things that no amount of work can overcome. But I’d also like to point out there are always ways to work around handicaps. Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath couldn’t get his fingers back, but he did spend hours and hours listening to Django Reinhardt, melting down soap bottles to sculpt crude prosthetics, and restringing his guitar so the strings would be looser and more manageable for his numb prosthetics to handle.
So I’d say at least that determination and a willingness to solve problems creatively can overcome a natural or acquired handicap. Restrictions do lead to creativity.
I’m still not prepared to accept the idea we should give up on your rhythm, though. As a teacher, I take that as a challenge. 😉
Great post, Nicholas! The course referenced in the link below taught at Princeton University supports the same conclusion:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/songwriting-on-demand/
Thanks for the link, Mark.
Wow. Every student wrote a song every week of the course? That’s a motivated group. I wish I’d had more of that Princeton energy when I was a lad.
Hi! I don’t exactly agree 100%. I think that there IS a such thing as being born with certain talents. I love writing music. I remember as a child (around 7 or 8) making up jingles and singing them aloud. They would just come to me without me even trying and my siblings would catch on and sing along. I don’t even think I realized what it was at that time. But looking back, it’s clear that still do the same thing now as I did when I was a child. I didn’t even choose wanting to write music. I don’t just sit around thinking of what to write next. In fact, I’ve even tried to force myself to write something, but music doesn’t just come to me that way. It’s very strange. Sometimes, the melody comes first and sometimes I just start singing the melody and forming lyrics all together out of the blue. There’s only a few lines that come to me, then I build the rest of the song off of that. I’ve even had songs come to me In my dreams. Perfect songs. Unless I wake up at that very moment to at least record myself singing the melody, all is lost. There have been times that I was able to wake up right away and record the melody. I would wake up singing it over and over so that I wouldn’t lose it (because man, it comes and goes in an instant). Then, I can’t rest until I am able put all the pieces together making sure I get it as close as I can to what I heard in my head or in my dream. It’s like an intriguing puzzle at that point. Ever since I was a little girl, writing music has been the only thing that has ever seem to ignite something inside of me. Again, I didn’t even ask for this; nor is it something I try to do. I also realized that I often write music when I’m extremely happy, extremely mad or extremely sad. NEVER when I’m under a lot of stress. NOTHING seems to comes to me when I’m stressed. I used to think that everyone experienced this, but later found lots of people that would say, “I don’t know how to write music.” They could even relate to what I was saying. Sure, I agree with you that it can be learned. However, there are certain talents that are “gifts” that come natural WITHOUT any major effort. I believe in all my heart that this is a gift that I have and I call it a gift because everyone does not have it and because music keeps coming to me. Why doesn’t it go to everyone? Why me? I know that there are others out there like me and I bet they look at it as a gift too. All in all, I am a very creative person in general, but writing music (for some reason) is the only creative thing that has remained and for that, I want to pursue a career in songwriting. I must have this talent for a reason. Right?