How Can I Tell If I Have Musical Ability?

Determining if you have musical ability consists of several subjective activities to test your aural, intellectual and personal response to music. Music teachers have found that the majority of their students that have a musical gift express it in five basic ways: rhythm, aural ability, phrasing, musical preference and ability to learn new musical concepts. When these attributes combine, students tend to demonstrate giftedness with their musical abilities.

Step 1

Determine if you have a good sense of rhythm. Have someone with musical experience clap a complex rhythm and see how well you can repeat it from memory. This skill becomes evident early on in a gifted child.

Step 2

Evaluate your ear for recognizing musical pitches by asking a friend to play several pitches on the piano. See if you can sing the notes back without making a mistake. A musically gifted person shows an ability for recognizing and recalling pitches.

Step 3

Assess your ability to interpret a phrase. See if you can determine where the beginning and ending of a phrase occurs and if you can naturally hear the difference between the first part of a phrase and the second. Musical phrases consist of complete melodic thoughts that most typically break up into two sections.

Step 4

Decide if you have inclinations toward specific musical styles. Music teachers notice that students with a great deal of aptitude choose a specific preferred style of music.

Step 5

Appraise your ability to learn from musical instruction. People with musical ability have a tendency to pick up new musical concepts quickly. For example, when learning about musical intervals and chords, the student will learn quickly how they relate to the larger musical structure.