June 2009

Nature or Nurture

June 10, 2009 07:35

Have been wondering a lot about nature vs. nurture when it comes to musicians. It's so hard to tell which qualities are essential, let alone which are innate. When I was taken to my first violin teacher, Zinaida Gilels, at the Central Music School in Moscow, she looked at my left hand and said-that pinky's just too short. But when she heard me sing, she accepted me, because, as she put it-hands can be trained, but an ear for music can't be created.

More to the point, what is it in people that makes them want to play music? Play it on stage? Of all the musicians I know, some are nervous wrecks, some entirely sanguine, and yet, such different approaches seem to yield equally good results.

To clear up matters a bit, I'd like to pose to all of you 3 questions

1.When did you fall in love with music?

2.Did you immediately know which instrument was "for you"?

3. How do you feel about the private experience of music, as opposed to playing it in front of an audience?

15 replies | Archive link