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There's an interesting study in the book "This is Your Brain on Music". They did a comparison between those who were thought to have "it" and those were were not. And they found, interestingly enough, that anyone who put the time in could become an expert, and, in fact, that those who were thought not to have it, actually outperformed those who were thought to have it. The median was 10,000 hours.

I have proof of this phenom, as I often work with people who are considered to be tone deaf and have no singing talent. I find that those who are determined and are willing to engage in the process over time can overcome the barriers and find their natural talent, which was buried under doubt, ineffective habits and misunderstandings.

So I find it hard to buy into the notion that one 'has to be born with it' or 'has it or doesn't have it'. IMO, some folks need help to find it. In the end, you can't tell the difference.

I also disagree with the idea that one can either write songs or not. I wrote lots of crappy songs 5 years ago. (I wrote quite a few at 13 years old, too) I write much better songs today, after getting feedback from many peers, taking songwriting seminars, reading books on lyric writing, taking courses in jazz theory, guitar lessons, etc. There is value in continuing education. In fact, this kind of education is why I now have tracks signed.

Hummin'bird