I like Jerome's take on this entire thread. Being "musically gifted" shouldn't be something that people wish they were when they are having trouble with a difficult piece. I think that people who love music are generally musically gifted. They hear music everywhere, appreciate a wide variety of music, often play music, and anyone who loves music will usually play music with some level of beauty.

Can't resist addding my 2 cents. Based on the above and my own thoughts:

1) There is no single definition of gifted in terms of outcomes or certification, suggest we look at players in degrees or a continuum

2) There are probably only 5 really, really, great professional pianists in the 20th century (can you name them?); the rest are all excellent (looking at say the next 30 players who have concertized and recorded extensively)

3) Are only the top 5 (or make it 10) gifted?

4) Believe the best pianists have a combination of qualities, such as great eye/hand coordination, great taste about music/are very musical, and like all of us, have put in a lot of work.

It may be 90% persperation that lets us play difficult pieces, but its the 10% inspiration from those other qualities that really makes the difference IMHO.

A Godowski (sp?) played 10 or more hours a day - was he gifted? Many might think not.

Final Question: Does it matter? If some have to work hard, have the desire and the focus and perform well -- who cares?

By the way, this discussion is similar to athletics. The most naturally gifted athlete is not always the best. I'd take an athlete who has some good abilities and works really hard and thinks about what s/he is doing.

Ed

i'm curious about those 5, including one alive or died?

Most if not all are probably dead. Actually I was quoting David Dubal although he never listed them in his class.

Having been on PW for a little over a month, I just know there will be no universal agreement on who they are.

We're talking here about the most highly gifted.

Who goes first?

let me guess:

(dead)
Arrau
Horowitz
Rubinstein
Rachmaninov/Hofmann(?)

(living)
Pollini

Pianojerome: no, he is not gifted. He is merely someone who has persevered.

So "musically gifted" simply refers to the talent that one is born with?

Signa, I might add Richter, Cziffra, and Lipatti to that list.

Grane said there're only 5 really really great pianists in 20th century .

Would you really include Rubinstein and Arrau? (Especially in place of Richter and Lipatti, at least)

I haven't heard much of Pollini (just his Chopin Polonaises and bits and pieces of the etudes and preludes and Debussy preludes), but I'm not a big fan of what I've heard.

For me there are different types of musical gifts. Some people can improvise, some can sight read, some compose wonderfully, but can't perform, and then there are those who can play fantastically, but can they improvise or compose. Some make up music in their heads almost constantly, others think about form or fingerings. Some can pick up almost any instrument and make it sound beguiling. When we talk about musical gifts or musical intelligence it comes in many forms. There is no such thing as the generic musical gift.

In my case I can play pretty good, but I don't have the physical capability to play super fast, nor can I sight read my way out of a paper bag. But I hear music in my head all the time and sometimes I even write it down, learning to play it is another matter, but one I'm working hard at. My wife can sight read anything, but don't ask her to memorize anyuthing. We both have good ears, but I'm not si sure about her taste.

So just what do you mean by musically gifted?

I think that if you use it to your advantage, plus you can back it up with very proficient Piano Playing, it can help you learn songs a lot faster than normal.

Sometimes you can learn songs without even seeing the music. All you need to do is hear it.

Can be a great advantage.

Very interesting question, JeanneW. My immediate thought was that YOU have a musical gift. One that I do not. I have some skills and a lot of determination and love of music and playing, but I would never say or think I am musically gifted. But, I also like pianojerome's thinking. Maybe I have an $18 gift, but not a $1,000,000 one. Maybe I haven't uncovered or developed my *gift* yet. I do not think you have to be a prodigy to be gifted.

You could have picked up the talent along the way, or you could have been born with it.

I feel it is more to do with the way that you use the talent.

You might have been born with the genes of your parents who are both fantastic ice-skaters, and they gave you amazing balance. But until you try ice-skating yourself and practise, I don't think it can be perceived as a talent.

Very interesting responses, Everyone. It seems to me "musically gifted" would mean possessing some innate ability beyond what the average person - the majority of people - can do or is capable of doing. So the question becomes: what can the average person do? What is the average person's capabilities? But how can anyone really answer that question, without training a person first to see what they are capable of?

Wow. I just confused myself!

Teachum: I'm not so sure I've got special talents. And remember, you've never heard me actually play the piano. I'm self-taught and very undisciplined. I play most everything "half-baked". Now that I have a piano teacher (I've got all of about 5 lessons under my belt) - it is soooo alien to me to be practising the same piece of music every day for the past 5 weeks. I'm actually kind of flabbergasted this is what it takes!

Please keep the comments coming about what "musically gifted" may mean. I'm truly trying to get a grasp of what this means. Can anyone answer what the average person is capable of?

Jeanne W