hey an how are you i can answer this for you quite simply, being a person on both ends. I was gifted with a natural ability to play at an early age well beyond my years. My gift was nourished, and i went to a performing arts school from 3rd grade through high school. The answer is simple. There are 3 types of people in the world. A. those that are born with a special gift. B. those that are not as gifted but have learned from the theory end and have developed into a very great player, and those who have 50% of both a natural ability, and learning the thoery end. however the one with the natural gift plays from a special ability that just plainly put, some of us dont and WONT have, its what makes us and every gift unique. The bible says let every man use his gift in measure to it was given to him. so there are measures of how much each has, and plainly put, some have more than others. Not saying that a person that dosent have as much as others cant be very good, you'll have to work harder at it than a person with natural ability. Mozart was a musical GENIUS for lack of a better word. He was envied for his ability by many, at a early age i believe 7 he wrote his first symphony, when most men during that time was well into thier 20's and 30', 40, doing this. Bethoveen was 90% deaf in both ears when he wrote his sonata's. with 40 different parts. THATS A PURE GITFT FROM GOD!! not saying that other men of this era wasnt gifted, there are plenty that was very good composers of the era. But these possesed a certain special talent that was given that is not equal to all men lol. so someone that is extremely GIFTED will always have an edge over some of us who are not as gifted as others.
But on the contrary to give hope to some i will say that being extemely gifted in some ways is a terrible handicap to some. and you ask how?? ill tell you. Most gifted people tend not to work as hard at developing like learning theory, scales, practicing alot, because they know they are gifted. Think im lying most major musicians i know that work in the industry arent extremely gifted musicians, they are very hard workers that have learned eveything they could possibly know about thier craft, which gives them the edge. I went to college with a guy, who it wasnt discovered until his sophomore year of college he couldnt read. The guy was memorizing 6-8 pages of mozart by ear, and would sit in class and look at the page like he was reading TALK ABOUT A GIFT! it wasnt discovered un til my professor caught him mess up on a pass, asked him to go back to bar 57 and play the pass again and he couldnt find it.!! and you ask why a guy this gifted couldnt read?? he relied strictly off of his ability so he felt no need to learn theory and sight reading, because he had such a gift, he could learn anything by ear and memory. That same guy is playing at a coffee house now and doin od and in gigs, while my classmates are working for major artists, and award show bands and touring, because they dont have an awesome gift but they learned the craft from the technical side (theory chords chart reading etc...) so it falls both ways. Just work your gift you have, learn all you can about your craft, and be the best YOU, you can be, and nothing else matters. hope this helps stay encouraged man!
