Vanessa Mae - The Making of Me

xrainy · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:02 pm Post subject: Vanessa Mae - The Making of Me

Vanessa-Mae will appear in the final episode of 'The Making Of Me' to be aired on BBC1 on Thursday 7th August. In this episode she asks the question 'what made me the way I am?' Vanessa-Mae is a violin prodigy who has so far sold in excess of 11 million records worldwide and has been publicly performing since a very early age. For the programme scientists are brought in to determine the secret of her success and although still only 29, she is put under a microscope, has a brain scan and goes through numerous tests to ascertain if some of us are just born as winners with natural talent or is it a case of social upbringing or simply hard work.
Source: Merlin Elite

So do you think Vanessa's violin skills are down to lots of practice or was it in her genes and she was born to play the violin? Very Happy

xcept · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:38 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a great show xrainy, thanks! Very Happy

Personally I don't think that teaching the technicalities of music are enough.

Yes I believe everyone can sing and play musical instruments if given instruction, especially if encouraged from an early age.

And previous studies seem to have proven that accomplished musicians have differences in their brains as a direct result of their training, to the point that right handed people show left-hemisphered dominance instead of the expected right!

But surely we all have your strengths and teaching alone can not produce virtuoso performers. The correct training from early on in life may instil persistance to practice and possibly even the determination to succeed, but is it enough?

Can someone given the best musical training and encouragement in optimum conditions and ideal circumstances still succeed if they have no natural sense of rhythm or timing. What if they aren't personally driven and passionate about the sound they make?

The point I'm trying to make is, yes there are probably robots that can be programmed to play music with perfect technical brilliance, but would it move you? Would you feel the musicians heart and soul in the performance and would you feel that emotional tug some can introduce to a piece when you listened to each robotical perfectly formed and timed note?

It should be a really interesting study and I can't wait to see how much they conclude natural ability has to do with success Very Happy

xrainy · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject:

I think in this case (ie learning an instrument) you have to want to do it overall. If you are pushed into it, and are good but don't enjoy it , you won't play with passion, you'd just go through the motions to get the tune out right. Whereas if it's a passion inside you (perhaps this is what they trying to find out- where that passion comes from?) you'd put the effort in and want to play to the best of your ability and yourself and the audience will be able to tell the difference between the two.

To me personally I don't know about all this science behind it. As I'm into my art and am fairly good and like to read up on artists etc, it's something I'm interested in which spurs me on to want to do well with my own artwork. But my family aren't that interested and don't draw so well, so my view is You have to be interested in the subject, be it music, art, whatever, to have even the slightest ability at actually being good at it.

does that make sense? Rolling Eyes

xrainy · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject:

Reminder: this show is on BBC 1 tonight at 9pm, if anyone is interested. Very Happy

xrainy · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:38 am Post subject:

Oooh I forgot to update in this. From watching the show they concluded that it was Vanessa's personality that helped her to be so good at the violin. From many tests deciding whether it was nature (genes) or nurture (practice), that had got her to be so good, it was finally decided/diagnosed that it was Vanessa's personality. She has a very similar personality to her Mother (according to tests), which helped as it was her Mother who convinced/got Vanessa interested in the violin. But also it was in Vanessa's personality to actually Want to practice and continue.
It was an interesting programme. Very Happy