Is Music in Our DNA?

I think so. Research indicates there are certain genes which correlate with certain types of music ability. But, as is always the case in the field of genetics, it's a complex phenomenon. I did some literature research and shared my findings and thoughts in today's Zoom workshop.

Hal Gatewood, Unsplash. "A ball of energy with electricity beaming all over the place."

Below is the workshop video recording from my YouTube channel, and you can download a PDF of the slide show, too...

Music in the Blood.pdf

Download PDF • 94KB

I believe--like David Z. Hambrick, quoted in What Do Great Musicians Have in Common? DNA (Bret Setka, Scientific American, August 2014):

"...it’s important to let kids try a lot of different things…and find out what they’re good at, which is probably also what they’ll enjoy. But the idea that anyone can become an expert at most anything isn't scientifically defensible, and pretending otherwise is harmful to society and individuals.”

In a society where so many 'experts'--many of them legitimate experts, but that's not the point--are teaching skills online, how do we know what we should study to be successful? I'm asking that of myself this minute. Do I have enough music ability for it to be worth anyone's time trying to get better at singing and writing songs? Is it worth giving up cheese, and chocolate, to keep my voicebox in tune?

And more importantly, how can we help the adults of tomorrow decide how they will contribute to society?