Practice, practice, practice.(Dear Reader)('This Is Your Brain on Music' by Daniel Levitin)

On a recent trip to the bookstore, I picked up a copy of Daniel Levitin's bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music (Plume, 2007). Levitin, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, has investigated the connections between music and the human brain. He concludes what most of us already know intuitively: that music is not an "evolutionary accident" but rather is "fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language." Although he readily admits the book is about the science of music, he brings some interesting new insights to the profound questions of musical meaning and musical pleasure. Or as he puts it: "This is the story of how brains and music co-evolved--what music can teach us about the brain, what the brain can teach us about music, and what both can teach us about ourselves."

As a music teacher/educator, I was attracted to the book, not just because of its quirky title, but mainly in response to a statement on the books cover: "Why 10,000 hours of practice--not talent--makes virtuosos." My initial response was "Now I know why I am not a virtuoso." However, the statement piqued my curiosity. Music teachers have long debated the "talent vs. practice" issues, especially related to students of high achievement in performance. Certainly, I wanted to know the take on it from the neurological perspective.

Levitin's conclusions were startling. There is, he says, strong evidence for the talent position, if for no other reason than some people acquire musical skills more rapidly than others. ...