How would a newcomer know what level of inherent ability they have? Also, while I think it's likely enough that there's a bell curve for ability -- with some o

How would a newcomer know what level of inherent ability they have? Also, while I think it's likely enough that there's a bell curve for ability -- with some outliers on the lower side who would find any improvement approaching competence very difficult, and some on the higher side for whom mastery is easy -- most people can probably get better. Why not try? Particularly if you find it engaging. I'm never going to be a famous musical virtuoso, but I sure enjoy playing the piano and the guitar (and I do it well enough that sometimes people even enjoy listening :).