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View Poll Results: Does genetics influence musicianship?

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  • Directly affects

    31 77.50%
  • No effect

    9 22.50%
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  1. #1

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    Hi guys I was thinking about this a little bit after reading another thread (Everyone can play jazz - yes or not ?).

    Do you guys think genetics plays a role in musicianship?

    1) Directly affects musical skills such as hearing or melodic sense
    2) No effect on musicianship

    If you guys answered yes, in what ways do you think genetics manifests itself in our playing? Which aspect(s) of music does the genetic trait lend itself to?

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  3. #2

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    If you include memory in the equation of genetics I absolutely think it plays a role. I am amazed at the ability of musicians to memorize long complicated pieces and large repertoire, and then recall it instantly if asked to play a particular tune.

    I wish I could do that. I have forgotten 95% of what I once had memorized.


    Last edited by Slide; 05-27-2015 at 01:02 PM.

  4. #3

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    Hard to tell. Would probably need some studies of identical twins separated at birth, raised in very different environments.

    I have many friends who are stellar musicians and whose mother or father (or both) was/is a musician, which certainly seems to have given them a "leg up", but it doesn't tell you anything about genetics versus the environment in which they were raised.

  5. #4

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    I believe some people have (better or perhaps healthier) nerve - muscle systems that allow them move and execute passages in more fluid manner. I think this becomes more visibly apparent as we age.

    Danielle
    Last edited by DanielleOM; 05-28-2015 at 02:33 PM.

  6. #5

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    Since "Have no clue" (possibly a genetic trait) was not an option, I answered in the affirmative. I believe there are certain mental and physical traits passed down that may lend themselves to making a person more musically inclined.

  7. #6

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    A thoughtful article by a piano teacher on "the genetic basis of talent."


    The Genetic Basis of Talent - Cerebroom

  8. #7

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    Sorry, folks, looks like there is now some hard core evidence that genetics plays a critical role.

    Here's the article from Scientific American: What Do Great Musicians Have in Common? DNA - Scientific American

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by zdub
    Sorry, folks, looks like there is now some hard core evidence that genetics plays a critical role.
    Nothing to be sorry for. Genetic factors play a substantial role in all aspects of our lives.

  10. #9

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    Piano fingers!

    That is not to discount the influence of angels, or, at the crossroads at midnight, Satan.

  11. #10

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    Since we live in the age of Darwinism and evolution, is there another answer besides yes to genetics?

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Since we live in the age of Darwinism and evolution, is there another answer besides yes to genetics?
    Look at your frettin hand. Four fingers to fret the notes of a 7th chord, a thumb to squeeze from the back -- that's an intelligent design!

  13. #12

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    no surprise
    some people are born fast runners
    some people are born smarter
    some people are born musical

    etc etc

    so what , doesn't matter
    i'm not gifted , I play anyway ....
    no-one plays like me

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Since we live in the age of Darwinism and evolution, is there another answer besides yes to genetics?
    Oh God

  15. #14

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    There's influence...musicianship is very multi-faceted. There's no single skill for musicianship, but if you were blessed with a number of aptitudes, yeah, you might find stuff easier, see bigger successes faster, be more motivated to work even harder, etc.

    Musicianship is not like "running fast" though. Musicianship is like being a good quarterback. Lots of skills combined.

  16. #15

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    Great book by Oliver Sacks called "Musicophilia". Details several known cases of people getting struck by lightening, or hit on the head, who suddenly had incredible musical abilities "unlocked" that they never knew they had before. Became high-level composers, pianists, etc. People who did NO music before the accident. There are similar cases of people suddenly having unlocked incredible ability for mathematics, like being able to calculate square roots of complex numbers to the 23rd decimal place, in their heads, within 10 or 15 seconds...

    Now you tell me, nature or nurture??

  17. #16

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    My great uncle is a firm believer that everything you'll come to be is determined upon conception and that the external environment accelerates or retards your progress towards denouement. I was a skeptic of this theory but the more I observe my surroundings, the more I find it to be axiomatically true. That isn't to say great guitarists are born with an inherent understanding of the fretboard or things of the like, just the tendency to have an insatiable desire to process it's complexity.

  18. #17
    It seems like the overwhelming answer to the nature vs. nurture question is nature.
    The second part of my question was to discuss how the nature would manifest ie. what exactly is musical talent?
    Of course there's no clear answer yet, but what everybody thinks might make for interesting discussion.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thecytochromec
    My great uncle is a firm believer that everything you'll come to be is determined upon conception and that the external environment accelerates or retards your progress towards denouement. I was a skeptic of this theory but the more I observe my surroundings, the more I find it to be axiomatically true. That isn't to say great guitarists are born with an inherent understanding of the fretboard or things of the like, just the tendency to have an insatiable desire to process it's complexity.

    You can press the point that free will doesn't exist and that the universe is deterministic above the level of quantum mechanics. Is that what your great uncles bangs on about?

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    You can press the point that free will doesn't exist and that the universe is deterministic above the level of quantum mechanics. Is that what your great uncles bangs on about?
    Oh God

  21. #20

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    It's probably a combo of genetics and soul/spirit.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
    You can press the point that free will doesn't exist and that the universe is deterministic above the level of quantum mechanics. Is that what your great uncles bangs on about?
    No, likely because he hasn't taken quantum mechanics; he's a biologist.

    Unfortunately, I have taken quantum mechanics. I would argue that the 4th postulate of quantum mechanics infers that though we can predict the results of many repetitions of an identical experiment, the actual values of a single trial of the experiment are impossible to predict. This mirrors the idea of "free will" in my opinion. By that I mean, people, on the whole, are largely predictable yet every once in a while there will be one that deviates from our prediction some call this phenomenon "free will". The real question, in my opinion, would be, "Is it actually free will?"

    Currently I'm reading "What is Man?" by Mark Twain which an old man argues with a young one that man is in fact a machine on the basis that... Well now that I think about it, I'm at the critical point of derailing this thread so I'll spare the OP and all other prying eyes and suggest that you give it a read. It's free on the apple bookstore and quite an interesting read.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thecytochromec

    (snip)
    By that I mean, people, on the whole, are largely predictable yet every once in a while there will be one that deviates from our prediction some call this phenomenon "free will". The real question, in my opinion, would be, "Is it actually free will?"

    Currently I'm reading "What is Man?" by Mark Twain which an old man argues with a young one that man is in fact a machine on the basis that... Well now that I think about it, I'm at the critical point of derailing this thread so I'll spare the OP and all other prying eyes and suggest that you give it a read. It's free on the apple bookstore and quite an interesting read.
    But you'll also find that even "one that deviates from our prediction" will make a subconscious decision to do something before they are consciously aware of that choice. fMRI studies bear this out time & time again.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will makes my head explode. At some point ya' just gotta say, so what, lemme get on with life...

    (gonna go check out that Twain piece now. It's on gutenberg.org)

  24. #23

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    -from the Jackie Vernon school of genetics: " If your parents didn't have any children, chances are, you won't either. "

  25. #24

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    Being the only person in possession of any musical competence among my siblings, parents and other relatives I don't see a connection. My mother-in-law, however, is a natural musician with perfect pitch. When asked, I say that I inherited my ability from her.

  26. #25

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    Genetic factors in responding to 4 year old zombie threads? Probably not.