Talent? Work!
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown is an international award-winning saxophonist specialised in jazz and pop. He also works as an educator, both with institutions like the San Francisco Conservatory, and on spaces of his own creation, like the Global Jazz Workshop.
His teaching operates under the idea that what people would call talent, understood as the innate aptitude to do something, can actually be acquired through practise and work. He elaborates on this idea in the clip below, posted on his Instagram page:
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Although there are always nuances to be considered with a statement like this, looking at our learning process under this lens is undoubtedly uplifting. When we stop thinking about certain skills or levels of ability as something inaccessible, or something that you have to be born with (as Chad says, there's no such a thing!), we can work towards acquiring them or adapting them to our ways of expression with more seriousness and energy.
You cannot stay motivated to work towards a goal if you believe that it is impossible to reach it. Whenever you find someone or something that inspires you, don't attribute its existence to talent or a gift from the heavens, impossible to comprehend. Instead, reflect on how it came to be with questions like:
- What is the music theory that supports this piece?
- What kind of exercises would be required to achieve the dexterity involved in performing it?
- What's the context, what are similar works that could inform it?
No matter how magical something appears to be, there's a process behind it. If you remain curious about it in regard to your role models and dream pieces, you'll be able to cultivate the talent to reach them!