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Creativity is a hard trait to explain – particularly when it comes to trying to figure out how much of it is determined by our environment, and how much is passed down by our parents. Now research has shown that up to 30 percent of a musician’s ability to compose and arrange music can be explained by genes – suggesting that the skills can, to a certain extent, be inherited.
That’s great news for everyone with musically gifted parents, but not terrible for the rest of us either, because the study suggests that 70 percent of composition talent is still in our hands. But what’s even more interesting is the research also isolated the genes involved in these skills, and discovered a specific biological pathway that could allow some people to write music like a second language, while the rest of us can barely hum a theme song.
To be clear, the study had its limitations – namely the fact that it only involved just under 300 individuals in Finland, who all self-reported their composition abilities (which is just asking for exaggeration).
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But the chromosome regions that appeared to be linked to the ability to compose and arrange music are already known to be associated with musical appreciation and creativity, and they offer a solid starting point from which to study the biological basis of the skills further.
Read full, original post: Not everyone has the ability to compose music, and your genes could explain why
