Perspectives of Musical Talent: A study of identification criteria and procedures

As the concept of intelligence and talent broadens to include the arts, there is a growing need for the development of effective procedures to identify students who show potential as well as demonstrated musical talent. This interview study gathered perspectives of musical talent and strategies for its recognition from specialists across gifted and music fields. The study's purpose was to synthesize findings from earlier analysis and quantitative findings with interviews to develop an identification framework of recommended criteria and procedures to guide musical talent identification in a variety of educational settings. In all 16 individuals (eight men and seven women), purposefully sampled, participated. Data were analyzed in accordance with the Constant Comparative Method (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Results of the study yielded basic talent criteria under categories of perceptual awareness and discrimination, creative interpretation, and commitment. Resulting identification procedures propose to expand identification beyond performance, seek nominations outside of school, and specify observation techniques for performance assessment. The study also raises questions concerning creativity, creative interpretation, and musical talent identification for future research consideration.