Which was fascinating enough that I began rambling about it in the comments of her post, and finally realized I really ought to just write a post of my own. 🙂
The thing is, I was an awful, awful singer as a child, for all that I loved it. The sort of singer who would be told, with sympathy by more on-key peers and adults alike, that singing was just one of those talents that you either have, or don’t have. I, clearly, didn’t have it.
But what I discovered was that I could learn. More slowly than many people, but I could, with much practice, train myself to hear the notes I was singing, and to match them to those others sang, or played.
Which makes me able to see, in this wonderfully clear way, how what musical memory I have now really was learned. Because I could see myself using that learning–and not some just some natural skill–to figure out my answers.
I think maybe we do people a disservice, when we tell them that music–or anything else–is only accessible to a chosen few.
Though of course, the other side of that is: it’s accessible, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have to work for it.