Tony thinks..

The question of talent is something that I’ve been grappling with for months now, ever since I became serious about guitar. However, this applies to much more than playing music. It’s just the best example of a skill in which most people tend to believe “either you have it or you don’t.” I was haunted by thoughts like ‘What if I’m not musically talented, and I’m wasting my time?’ After all, I have a friend who took guitar lessons for 5 years and today he never plays anymore. If he does, it’s mediocre at best. Then there’s the 16 year old guitarist from Black Oxygen, who has been playing for 2 years and can grind out the most shiver-inducing licks as if by divine (or perhaps, satanic) inspiration. I, myself, had one of the roughest starts imaginable, so you can see why I was concerned. So for months, I’ve thought, and researched, and experimented, and discussed, and thought some more (hence the blog title), and here’s what I came up with.

Talent is really insight. Everyone likes music, but how many people actually understand music? I’m not talking about scales, chords, and modes, though they help. I’m talking about an intuitive understanding of the reason why music exists, and why we love it so much. For the first 18 years of my life, I had no clue. I didn’t even like music very much. I mean, there’s certain kinds that I could tolerate more than others, but in general I was pretty indifferent. Now I love music in all forms. From samba, to reggae, to metal, to classical, to blues (<3), funk, hip hop, electronica, Indian sitar… Anything! Why? Well… it’s hard to explain! If it was easy, everyone would know, but the thing is, it’s not enough to know a lot about music intellectually. I’m talking about an intuitive knowledge or insight. I’ll try my best to explain, but I’m afraid that many of you still won’t get what I mean. Still, I believe that language is a powerful vessel of communication, and people who say “words cannot express” are just being lazy , so I’ll try my best to explain, if you try your best to understand.

First of all, music is not made by a guitar or a piano. Music is made by people. Fancy instruments aren’t needed to make great, moving music (though they help). This will sound a little crazy to some of you, but today I was at the gym on the bike, and a girl was running on the treadmill. When I listened to the rhythmic sounds that she was making as she ran, and the patterns of loud and soft thumps (I swear, this was not in a creepy way! sounded very musical, even a little funky to me! So, being the free spirit that I am with little regard for social norms, I decided to jam with her, haha! All three girls that were in the gym with me at the time had headphones in listening to music, but I decided to make some. That turned to be much more satisfying. I simply started drumming on the sides of the stationary bike in ever-changing patterns that interact with the drone of the treadmill, and the girl’s running. I fell into a euphoric, transcendental state where the only thing that existed or mattered was the beat as I toyed with it. That combined with the endorphins released from the aerobic exercise, gave me a powerful natural high that’s hard to beat. In case you’re wondering, I’m not udderly insane, though I’m sure the rest of the gym’s patrons probably thought so, haha. I didn’t just invent this either. What happened (minus the bike), is very similar to African drumming (though usually the other person consents to the jam session first, haha). Also, I don’t have super-powers. Watch this cute 4 year old, doing the same thing with his dad in Africa.

Next, music isn’t just purdy sounds. Music is a form of communication. One theory, which I definitely agree with, is that music evolved before language, and was instrumental (zing!) in the development of language. Bumble bees don’t have the ability to verbally speak to each other, but when one finds a great spot to gather pollen, it will go back to the hive and literally dance the way to get there for the rest of the bees, so they too can go and collect from that spot. Doesn’t seem like such an insignificant pass-time, anymore does it! Think about that next time you make fun of music majors (though I’m sticking with Computer Science, haha).

So, if it’s communication, what’s the message? Music is pure emotion. It tells a story, that we can feel and understand. It’s one of the most powerful forms of empathy there is. Think about it, when you hear James Blunt singing love songs to a triangle on Sesame Street, you can (hopefully) feel, his distress at losing that beautiful triangle to your core. After hearing that, my dreams were triangular for a week, haha. All this despite the fact that the verbal content of the song is quite unemotional and pretty hilarious. Even though he is most likely thousands of miles away from you, and you’ve probably never met him (not to mention, it’s a recording), you still feel connected to him. The reason is, you have entered into rapport with him through the power of music. And this becomes approximately a billion times more intense if you participate, which brings me to my next point.

Music is not spectator sport. The book This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin, is a fascinating look into the cognitive neuroscience behind our perception of and affection for music. One of his biggest points is, music was never supposed to be just for the “experts” like it is today. It’s for everyone. In tribal societies, even today, participating music is a part of everyone’s life on a regular basis. If they’re not singing, they’re dancing, or drumming, or playing some other instrument. The one thing they’re not doing is piling into 18,000 person auditoriums to watch 6 people on stage play while the rest watch quietly… We’ve elevated professionals, who no doubt are incredible at what they do, to such a Godly status, that the rest of us feel like we shouldn’t even bother trying. This is a grave mistake to make.

With this insight into the nature of music, I have given myself the freedom to make music happen at any time or place, like the gym. The reason many people start playing and give up is they focus on technical ability (which is definitely important), and get frustrated when they’re unable to use the instrument to encode any actual emotion. Practice becomes tedious, and they quit. That’s why I think everyone should start out on drums. It’s the most fundamental form of music that anyone can do at any time. You could start making music by smacking your desk in different patterns and different ways to generate distinct sounds. Try it!

The bottom line is, anyone who intuitively understands these things will be viewed as very talented by all her peers, like Suzi, who don’t understand how it is she’s can belt out Yoshimi on the Ukelele so effortlessly while they struggle with Marry Had a Little Lamb on recorder.

Again, let me remind you that this applies to every area of learning and skill, not just music. The key to talent is insight and attention, not superpowers.

I hope this has been enlightening for you all. Please share your stories in the comments about your talents, musical or otherwise, and whether you think they were inherited or learned. Much love, keep reading and subscribe if you haven’t already!

Tony Programming