The early progress of able young musicians

Abstract

DESCRIPTIVE AND THEORETICAL APPROACHES Many people have strong opinions concerning the possible reasons for particular individuals becoming exceptionally skilled in one or other sphere of excellence, but only rarely are views about this matter accompanied by detailed knowledge of the actual circumstances in which unusual capabilities are gained. When we set out to investigate the early progress of successful young musical instrumentalists in the late 1980s, we began with a firm conviction that it would not be possible to decide between rival theories until a fuller body of descriptive knowledge could be made available. Largely for that reason, our own research has been essentially descriptiv..