The musicians I like to listen to who were teenage prodigies will tell
you that they worked very hard at their instruments (though they were
slightly obsessive and didn't see it as work). In doing so they often
put at risk their general education as they practiced rather than
swatted for their GCSEs, and they were probably thought of as odd by
their peers. None of them has told me they just picked them up.
To avoid mentioning pipers by name I will cite a lad who lived in Kent
while I was still in the UK. He played button accordion as his main
instrument but was also a very good guitarist and pianist. I never knew
him to have friends his own age until he met some at sessions where
someone would always make space for Tim, his box and glass of lemonade
when he came into the pub under the legal drinking age. He is now a
sought after session musician who has recorded with Lunasa, Frankie
Gavin and Session A7 among many others. He is a gifted musician but one
who worked his bum off to get to the level he is.
Ian
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