Musically Gifted

Talent Children and Adults. Third Edition. Jane Piirto, Prufrock Press, 2007.

This is a very comprehensive look at the field of gifted education and creativity. The book is 730 pages long and contains 12 chapters. Perspectives on definitions of intelligence and theories of giftedness and creativity are covered as well as common practice in identifying giftedness and creativity. Piirto then proceeds to deal with each stage of development, young gifted children, giftedness during the elementary and middle school years, high school and college aged gifted students and adult giftedness. In the discussion of each phase, she organizes the presentation of material by domains or areas of giftedness including music, visual arts, writing and leadership.Two chapters deal with curriculum for the gifted and differentiation and there are chapters devoted to social emotional issues and special populations of gifted learners. This book emphasizes breadth of topics covered rather than depth and is an excellent resource for beginning students in the field.

Joanne Hartounian. Kindling the Spark. Recognizing and Developing Musical Talent. Oxford Press, 2002.

This is a comprehensive look at musical talent and its development. The author covers perspectives on musical talent (as aptitude, as intelligence, as performance, as creativity, as giftedness), recognizing musical talent, and developing musical talent (early development to the teenage years). This book is a must for any music educator but would also be helpful to parents with a musically talented child.

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