It depends on what you mean . I believe most people can become proficient at almost anything , whether it ' s art , music , mathematics , sports , etc . Some of us may have to work a bit harder to reach proficiency , but it ' s definitely achievable . And then there are those who are specialthose who push the boundaries of their field . That takes both enormous talent and dedication . For those who truly want to make it in some fields , this can be a dream crusher , but most people aren ' t interested e . g . , if you want to be a professional football player , you need a certain amount of natural talent , whereas if you want to be the best player in your intramural team , you can probably achieve that with enough practice and training . So to apply this to your particular situation , I believe it does take something special to become a worldclass singer , something that no amount of practice will get you . But I also think anyone can become a decent singer with enough practice . And often times that ' s good enough . EDIT Also , for a personal example , I ' m an engineer by trade . Now , the chances that I ' ll invent something worldchanging or become highly regarded in my field are basically zeroI don ' t have the talent for that . But I ' m skilled enough to have a good job and earn a decent living . Some talent may have factored into where I am now , but I firmly believe that almost anyone can do what I am doing with enough training .