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I think it was John Watson who claimed that if he were given a dozen infants and a specific world to raise them in, he could bring each one up to be any kind of person with any kind of talent and career.  I personally think that's impossible to that degree, but there is some truth to it, just as you said about practicing the piano and possibly gaining a skill you don't currently have.  I think we do have a certain amount of control when it comes to acting against our "natural tendencies" as you said.  I also think that timing has a lot to do with it.  We have more opportunities to develop skills when we're younger, though certain skills may come more easily to certain people.

There was a study done a few years ago on perfect pitch and tonal languages.  Perfect pitch is a relatively rare gift (at least in our culture), but in countries that speak tonal languages, it is more frequent.  In the study, people speaking tonal languages, such as Mandarin, were recorded saying the same things at many different times and in different situations, and each time, they used the same pitches.  Perhaps many skills we believe to be "gifts" are actually possible for all people to learn, but we don't exercise them enough or learn them early enough to make use of them.

I'd say more, but I'm about to be late for this class.