Is lots of practice enough to play like this or is it ultimately down to talent?

[Samogitian]

[rick-slo]

An "and" choice, not an "or" choice, plus doing a fair amount of listening.

[BoneDigger]

For most people, practice would get you to this level.

[pullp]

I see a beautiful song and nice playing but no talent here. The only one to judge this guy’s talent is himself, thinking about how long he plays and practiced this song. In my opinion 99% is practice, regardless what it is about.

[ship of fools]

Its really a bit of both and how much time you can dedicate to playing.

[Alan Carruth]

I sometimes wonder if 'talent' doesn't simply boil down to 'whatever it takes to motivate lots of practice'.

Keep in mind that there's a difference between 'play' and 'practice'.

[Samogitian]

Originally Posted by pullp

I see a beautiful song and nice playing but no talent here. The only one to judge this guy’s talent is himself, thinking about how long he plays and practiced this song. In my opinion 99% is practice, regardless what it is about.

Well, obviously practice is most important, however he also arranged it himself, so surely there's talent there? I mean, he was complimented by James Bartholomew (top comment), a guy who has close to a million subscribers.

Also I am curious if many people on this forum have achieved mastery like this.

[Riverwolf]

I am constantly amazed at the folks who insist it is just practice.
Practice, practice, practice they say.
I could practice basketball from sun up to sun down.
I will never play in the NBA.

Natural born talent and god given skills are a huge factor in everything we do.

[JGinNJ]

He plays pretty well, especially for a young guy. The double-time stretch around 2:00 was a little disjointed. That tune has been beaten to death as a jazz standard, it's a simpler one that many people learn when starting out on jazz.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

As talented as Larry Bird was as a basketball he was also the first person to the gym and the last to leave.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Alan Carruth

I sometimes wonder if 'talent' doesn't simply boil down to 'whatever it takes to motivate lots of practice'.

Keep in mind that there's a difference between 'play' and 'practice'.

Talent often motivates practice - the reward factor - part of the "ten thousand hours" fallacy.

[pullp]

Originally Posted by Samogitian

Well, obviously practice is most important, however he also arranged it himself, so surely there's talent there? I mean, he was complimented by James Bartholomew (top comment), a guy who has close to a million subscribers.

Also I am curious if many people on this forum have achieved mastery like this.

Ok. I did not look close like that. Also I never said it was not very good playing. But if you practice a lot. You can do that. Remember, this is only one song. I don’t think talent can be judged, based on one video.

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I am constantly amazed at the folks who insist it is just practice.
Practice, practice, practice they say.
I could practice basketball from sun up to sun down.
I will never play in the NBA.

Natural born talent and god given skills are a huge factor in everything we do.

This is true. Though NBA level is as high as you can get. Of course on order to belong the .01 % percent of basketball or guitar players worldwide, you need talent. But to be a very good player, not so much.

[MakingMusic]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

An "and" choice, not an "or" choice, plus doing a fair amount of listening.

Totally agree with this. But with an emphasis on practice.

[MartinGibsonFan]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I am constantly amazed at the folks who insist it is just practice.
Practice, practice, practice they say.
I could practice basketball from sun up to sun down.
I will never play in the NBA.

Natural born talent and god given skills are a huge factor in everything we do.

I'm in this camp and a bit of Brooklyn Bob's camp.

Can you practice acquiring musical rhythm? In this case Jazz but there are many other rhythms that might not come natural to a player.

Can you practice chord fingerings? There are just some chord fingerings that don't come naturally and will never be achieved (I'm strictly talking about myself here)

Having talent can motivate practice.

Not having talent can motivate not trying to overreach your natural abilities.

Be happy (and enjoy the music you produce) where your talent and practice lands you in playing guitar is my humble advice.

MGF

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by pullp

I see a beautiful song and nice playing but no talent here. The only one to judge this guy’s talent is himself, thinking about how long he plays and practiced this song. In my opinion 99% is practice, regardless what it is about.

Wow, a bit harsh. I see tons of talent. It depends how old you are. I practice several hours everyday and I’ll never be that fluid with jazz chords. I practice hard in 4 or 5 30 minute very focused, very slow, methodical methods like all great teachers say, but no, I’m too old to jump on a jazz train and knock out Autumn Leaves like that. If you’re in high school, you’ll get it pretty quickly.