Practicing—Making the Most of Time Spent
Popular wisdom states that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. If we break this down, practicing two hours a day will take 5000 days. If done EVERY day (no breaks for Groundhog Day, spelunking, or octopus training), it will take 13.69 years, or 13 years, 8 months and 7 days. Ish. That is if I got the formula right and carried the “5.”
So, WHOA. That is a LONG TIME. And who practices EVERY DAY anyway? And what does “mastering” mean? If I sit at my instrument for two hours every day, will I be able to book my Carnegie Hall debut in 13.69 years? Er, no. Sorry to break the bad news, but anyway, Carnegie Hall is expensive to rent.
What the number crunchers don't get is that the focus on time is completely off track. It isn't the amount of time, but the amount of thought that makes the difference. Granted, one does need a certain level of technical expertise, which takes time to acquire and hone into a skill. After all, if one struggles to strike the key, or coordinate the hands, or produce a warm and welcoming sound, then chaos (and misery) will ensue when attempting Chopin Ballades, Paganini Caprices or Schubert Lieder. So, let’s agree that being able to read and understand music is a given.
Thus, if we take the above into consideration, setting the timer for two hours as a limit (or “end of sentence” after which freedom will be granted) shifts the focus from the musical goal to the timer itself. We wonder why the tiny dial hasn’t moved, because surely we’ve been at it for 45 minutes, but the stupid timer shows only seven minutes have passed!
Chill, dude. Put the timer away and limit practice to 5 (yes, FIVE!) minutes of intensive work on one specific area or concern. Focus on that tricky passage or nail down that fingering or conquer that rhythm because time’s a-wastin ’, baby! When given only a tiny amount of time to accomplish a defined goal, it’s amazing what can be achieved. Why? Because the mind is hyper-focused on that goal when there are only five minutes to get it done.
Now, when this hyper-focus method is used, five minutes usually zip by so fast that another five minutes are not only needed but eagerly anticipated. Personally, I often keep adding “five-minuteses” until an hour or more has passed. And, well, that’s great! I inevitably accomplish more than if I’d set the timer and clock-watched for two hours.
Give it a try with your students and feel free to share your thoughts!
Keep playing! Keep learning! Keep loving!
Image photo supplied by Vecteezy
