My DS is musically talented - highly so - but, he is also equally talented at other things. So, I tend to think that he is using his intellect to master an instrument just as he is doing with other things.
For a gifted child, given the right opportunities, the right challenges and a lot of time to work on them, music also becomes something that they can learn at a high level using their intellect. My child scores highly on the "emotional" and "artistry" part of his music in his exams and auditions - this is not surprising because he has a good teacher who teaches these things - and DS uses his intellect to memorize her expressions and technique and is able to convincingly express almost the same things in his auditions. He is too young to understand lost loves, wars, treachery and tragedies - but, he has seen what the teacher expresses and he is a very good mimic
But, give him Star Wars or Harry Potter, then he comes up with his own inspired rendition of the piece!
