In popular use, we tend to associate talent with a natural (i.e. something you were born with) aptitude for a particular activity. For example, most people would agree that Tiger Woods seems to have an innate ability to play golf exceptionally well.
The nature versus nurture debate has been going on for decades, and is not likely to be solved here. My leaning is towards people having natural aptitudes in particular areas that give them certain advantages; take Kenyan runners, for example.
Nevertheless, it is one thing having an aptitude, and another being able to use it . . . and, using Tiger Woods again, it is unlikely that he would have achieved the success he has without considerable training. Similarly, Australian swimmers do pretty well. This could be innate, but it could also be because of a climate that encourages swimming. But the best swimmers, no matter what ability they are born with, have punishing training regimes to put them at their peak.
But, we should recognise that 'talent' is not an indivisible entity. The ability to perform well, or to write good songs, employs many different skills. A great performer, for example, requires such skills as motor co-ordination, internal rhythm, breath control, pitch control, a high degree of empathy for the lyrics, a high degree of empathy for the audience, an ability to develop a rapport with the audience . . . and so on. Different performers have different measures of these, with some skills more fully developed than others.
For song writing, a vast array of skills are needed: good wordcraft, a large vocabulary, an ability to translate images, emotions and experiences into language, an ability to create memorable melodies and hooks for the listener, and so on.
Some people can do bits of this more easily than others. Some people are really good at coming up with ideas . . . but then don't know how to turn them into songs. Others aren't so good at coming up with ideas, but once given the seed, can create something interesting from the merest hint.
We can create difficulties for ourselves when we use phrases such as 'musical talent', because, though convenient, they disguise the complexities involved. For example, I would assert that to play a guitar, you need hand-eye coordination, dexterity, discernment (amongst others), but these are the same skills you need to craft a fine piece of furniture. What makes one person become a guitar player, and another a furniture-maker? I suspect that different people's brains are wired in different ways, and this pushes them into areas that they seem to have a resonance with.
In the end, I think talent is a fairly well developed array of a range of skills, couple with a natural inclination to use these skills in a particular way.
