Classically Savvy

I look forward to my Arts Journal Digest email once a week. I was introduced to it in my “Life in Music” class at the U, and have relied on it to keep me abreast of what’s going on in the world of the arts.

Every so often, you read something that crystallizes some idea that’s been vaguely floating around in the back of your head. Last week, an article titled “The Neuroscience of Talent (There isn’t any)” caught my attention. Several points in the article struck me as noteworthy.

It doesn’t appear that there’s anything like a music gene or center in the brain that Stevie Wonder has that nobody else has. There’s no evidence that (talented people) have a different brain structure or different wiring than the rest of us initially, although we do know that becoming an expert in anything — like chess or race-car driving or journalism — does change the brain and creates circuitry that’s more efficient at doing what you’re an expert at.

So it’s back to nature/nurture, then. Even though the brain itself isn’t more suited in this case, I do think people are more likely to excel at music (or any subject, for that matter) if their personality matches the personality traits required for it.

Additionally, and perhaps more fundamental, the skill must be cultivated. I’ve encountered quite a few amateur musicians who I thought could definitely have had a career as a singer because of their personality. But, since they never sang anywhere but in the shower, and made other choices with their vocations, that route is closed to them. Quite disappointing in some situations.

I gave a friend a voice lesson once, and found myself thinking “This guy could be a Wagnerian tenor!” But at 35, he already had a career as a lawyer and educator, as well as being a dad and volunteer at his church. The amount of training needed to get his voice to operatic quality would have been considerable, and he didn’t have the desire or dedication to continue. To this day, I wonder what that parallel universe would have been like where he did learn to sing somewhere along the way.

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“(Research has shown that) if women could choose who they’d like to be impregnated by, they’d choose a rock star. There’s something about the rock star’s genes that is signaling creativity, flexibility of thinking, flexibility of mind and body, an ability to express and process emotions — not to mention that (musical talent) signals that if you can waste your time on something that has no immediate impact on food-gathering and shelter, you’ve got your food-gathering and shelter taken care of.”

Wow. I love this. Let me repeat: “If you can waste your time on something that has no immediate impact on food-gathering and shelter, you’ve got your food-gathering and shelter taken care of.” Need I say more? :-)