Thanks for all the input. I ask partly because of an interest in the impact of early musical education on a large scale (think Venezuela and El Sistema). Is early music education a key component in shaping certain cognitive abilities?

I also ask because DS7 is drawn to music and after a few years of cello, he asked to add piano. After three piano lessons, his progress struck me as fairly rapid- sight reading music with both hands (though fairly easy pattern to recognize). I think we understand his strengths and weaknesses fairly well, but we are still in that phase of discovery (and in all honesty, disbelief at times). How different is our child's learning style, rate? He is also very hard on himself in the initial phase of reading a new song- he pushes himself through it, but I've witnessed him hit himself on the head with his fist in frustration when he struggles. My husband says not to worry, if he hurts himself, he will stop the behavior. Once again, he struggles the first few times through his songs, but by the end of the week they are fairly polished (and he is all smiles and proud of his work.) Since he seems to push himself so hard, having some references from other parents of gifted children helps me shape what is "normal" for him.