Guitar Zero: The Science of Becoming Musical at Any Age

Gary Marcus challenges the widely held belief that innate talent is necessary to become a skilled musician

Just about every human being knows how to listen to music, but what does it take to make music? Is musicality something we are born with? Or a skill that anyone can develop at any time? If you don't start piano at the age of six, is there any hope? Is skill learning best left to children or can anyone reinvent him-or-herself at any time?

For anyone who has ever set out to play a musical...