A qualitative study was used to explore perceptions of talent identification and talent development in musically gifted children. The first section involved teacher participants who used a Talent Identification Instrument, an instrument created for this study, to identify musically gifted children. The second section of this study involved parent participants who have identified musically gifted children.;The sampling technique used was voluntary. Five private lesson music teachers and 14 parents of identified musically gifted children participated in the study. Instruments used in the study were 12 open-ended interview questions, which related to the research questions, a parental demographic questionnaire, and a Talent Identification Instrument. The Talent Identification Instrument was adapted from research by Haroutounian and Gardner (Haroutounian, 1995, 2000a, 2000b & Gardner, 1985). It was created by the researcher to set guidelines for teachers so this study would have consistency among the numerous teachers involved in identifying musically gifted students.;The findings consisted of six themes and five sub-themes, which emerged from the interviews. The six themes were: efforts and development, family activities, teacher requirements and standards, musically gifted child's progress, sacrifices, and parental involvement. The following sub-themes emerged: parental impression of the first music teacher, motivation in relation to age, self-motivation in the child, teacher recommendations, and positive reflections on hard work. Results highlighted the parent's perceptions of talent identification and talent development in musically gifted children. Implications were drawn for parents, specialists, and educators working in this field.
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