How Much Natural Talent Do You Need To Write Songs?

5. That’s the answer. 5. Not out of 10. Just 5.

Well maybe not. 5 is just an arbitrary number. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s about as arbitrary as natural talent is.

The only natural talents that you need to write songs are: 1.) the ability to recognize pitch and 2.) the ability to recognize rhythm. That’s it. You don’t even need great pitch or rhythm to do this, you just have to be able to recognize it when it’s there.

The good news is that most people can do this already. If you happen to be one of the few who cannot recognize either then you’re probably not interested in writing music.

So lets talk about an unnatural talent. You’ll need some amount of discipline to make this work. Don’t worry, you’re not going to have to roll any big boulders up a hill or anything like that. You’ll just have to set aside some time each day to work on your craft. You can be a songwriter at the low cost of fifteen minutes a day. Just make it a good fifteen.

Most of the naturally talented musicians that I know burned out young. A beginning natural talent may appear a year or two ahead of their peers at the start, but their hard working competitors will far surpass them in five years time if the natural talent does not start putting in the elbow grease.

So, obviously my recommendation is to hit the practice rooms -whether you’re a natural talent or not. Sit down and write. Learn a few scales (no less than you need, but probably more than you’d want). Invest in yourself. You’re music is worth it.