No one is born with so much talent that they don’t have to practice. We ALL have to practice. And the real difference between those people we admire so much and the rest of us is usually the amount of time spent practicing. I once heard someone tell a group that playing the harp came so easily to (another person) and that she just sat down and started playing.  That was a very hurtful comment – No one who plays well does so without practice (they just make it seem that way!).

We spend a lot of time practicing. And those people we admire practice even more.  If you get consistent practice you might spend between 5 – 20 hours a week practicing (I know, 20 hours might sound like an impossible dream for most, but it is not unreasonable – really – if you seek to gain mastery). There is a popular statistic going around that it takes about 10000 hours of practice to gain mastery of anything. If your calculator is handy that is 417 days of practice – 24 hour days…if we make it “work days” instead – it’s a much more reasonable 1250 days ( or 3 ½ years – no days off of course) and if you think of it as work years (including vacations and weekends, and holidays) its just about 5 ½ work years….ouch!

So, it is essential that you use your practice time well (since it will add up – but only slowly). And to acknowledge that true mastery will take a while (remember that 10000 is a hand-wave – not a minimum). And work slowly and steadily toward mastery through practice.

In a later post we talk about specific techniques to improve your practice.

Since it was Marting Luther King’s birthday this week, its seems opportune to pinch one of his quotes and twist it to our purposes!  If he was a harp player he might have said something to the effect that:

the quality, not the longevity, of one’s practice is what is important*

Often, if we “make” the time to practice, we think it sufficient simply to sit to the harp.  And sometimes, we are lucky just to do that much.  But it is important that we infuse our practice time with Quality not just a quantity of minutes. 

But, if we are to improve and become more accomplished, it is essential that we add not just time at the harp, but that we add QUALITY time at the harp. 

This means we have to have a plan, a “schedule” if you will, for what we’ll be doing while we’re there.  And we have to know and understand what that plan will bring to our improvement.  We don’t just rip through music to check the box and say we’re done. 

What is your plan for practicing?  How do you intend to get better and how do you structure your practice to do so?  How does your plan move you toward the goals you set or your resolutions?  Drop me a comment, let me know.

* I believe the original quote from Dr. King was, “The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”  That too bears reflection.