Sunday, May 14, 2006

There’s nothing like born musical talent

The first English music album that I’d ever bought was Backstreet Boys when I was 15 years old. I find that a tad bit embarrassing but thankfully I soon graduated to rock and moved out of the whole ‘pop’ era. I was soon head-banging to Metallica, Iron Maiden, etc. I had been introduced to a completely new world.

Very soon I was dreaming of playing a guitar and was hanging out with guitarists and other musically inclined people. I bought my first guitar at age 16 (I have only bought one more since then). As I would sit with it all day, and take out one cranky note after another, I knew I had more of a musical bent than the general junta. It kind of makes you feel good that you have something that others don’t. (of course soon you realize that the same ‘others’ have a lot of things that you don’t ! .. then it’s crappy again)

Well anyways, what I just came across has simply shocked me and broken my heart. Apparently, scientists have discovered (those damn scientists again !), that we are all born with a perfect pitch (basically we are all born with so called ‘musical talent’). It’s a different thing that some of us just loose it over time as we learn languages. Infact, babies’ cootchy-coo language is nothing but them communicating in musical notes at apparently a 100% success rate. (and we thought they were just foolin’ around ;))

They have even discovered that the Neanderthals had a perfect pitch and used to communicate by singing (let’s direct the funding to something more constructive!). I would actually like to them naked ape like Neanderthals holding sticks and stones ‘n jumpin’ around ‘n singing to each other about how hot the whether was.

But there is still something special I can be happy about after all. I didn’t, after all these years of grappling with language, loose the pitch I was born with. Or so I think !

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why to listen to scientists anyway yaar? I mean think about it.. i dont see no sense in it. A newborn baby is like a vegetable... what music talent? These are the same scientists that predict weather?