ABSTRACT

This chapter presents a series of options for music teachers seeking to develop their practice of identifying musically talented pupils. It considers a range of evidence in respect of definitions, characteristics and descriptions and illustrates a number of musically talented pupils through case studies written by their teachers. The chapter reviews a practical strategy that teachers can adopt and implement to assist this part of their ongoing work. The pupils who were strong across many musical disciplines- e.g. performing, composing and listening, seemed to be the pupils who were also able in many other subjects. There was a smaller core of pupils, often harder to spot, who were more likely to be talented in one specific musical area. These pupils often seemed to have a heightened musical ability in a specific part of the curriculum, often performing or composing, but this was not matched with all-round skill.