What makes a musical expert?

musical achievement simply the result of training and practice, or are they based on innate brain structure – what we refer to as 'talent'? Talent can be defined as something that originates in genetic structures and that is identifiable by trained people who can recognize its existence before a person has achieved exceptional levels of performance. The emphasis on early identification means that to investigate it, we study the development of skills in children. It is evident that some children acquire skills more rapidly than others: the age of onset for walking and talking varies widely, even between children in the same household. There may be genetic factors at work, but these are closely linked with other factors – with a presumably environmental component – such as motivation and family dynamics. Similar factors can influence musical development and can mask the contribution of genetics to musical ability.