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Q: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child. ( No Answer,   5 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child.
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Music
Asked by: tnickey-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 09 Feb 2006 07:21 PST
Expires: 11 Mar 2006 07:21 PST
Question ID: 443599
Who is likely to be more gifted as a pianist: The one who starts
taking lessons as a child in reading music and playing the piano, or
the one who is self-taught as a child to read music and play the
piano? Also which of the two has the greater advantage in learning to
play the piano?
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child.
From: efn-ga on 18 Feb 2006 21:11 PST
 
Gifts are innate by definition, so taking lessons would have no effect
on giftedness.

In general, the one taking lessons would have the advantage, but not
necessarily in every case.
Subject: Re: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child.
From: tnickey-ga on 24 Feb 2006 09:20 PST
 
Thanks for your response. :-). My interest is not in whether taking
lessons are causative of giftedness, but rather in whether being
self-taught as a child in playing and score reading might indicate
greater giftedness than one who was not self-taught.
Subject: Re: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child.
From: tnickey-ga on 24 Feb 2006 10:05 PST
 
Also another question might be: 

What advantages might the self-taught child have over one who was not self-taught?
Subject: Re: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child.
From: tnickey-ga on 24 Feb 2006 10:39 PST
 
With respect to learning to play the piano and read music, might the
self-taught child possess certain personality factors or other
attributes that one who was not self-taught, but only lesson-taught,
as a child, might not have?
Subject: Re: Self-taught as a child v. taking lessons as a child.
From: myoarin-ga on 24 Feb 2006 18:20 PST
 
Last comment first:  Yes, of course, a child who teaches him/herself
to read music and play the piano will "possess certain personality
factors or other
attributes that one who was not self-taught ... might not have."  
I can imagine that this is much more likely to happen in the family of
one or more serious musicians, where music and piano playing are very
present, the child experiencing them like other children experience
reading as a common skill.  (But it is unlikely that in such a family
the child would be left alone with its interest.)  A child that did
this in a less musically oriented family would  - IMO -  being showing
a more unusual trait and special interest.

Such a child would obviously have a greater interest in piano playing
and would probably be a more enthusiastic student and show greater
aptitude, an obvious advantage  -

and perhaps a sign of greater giftedness, whereby I think we need to
differentiate between the gift of intellect  - that the child chose to
teach him/herself -  and the gift of becoming a prodigy at the piano
(at any age in life).  Are there any great pianists who were not
taught and coached?

This is just one man's opinion.  I hope it helps.

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