10,000 hour rule

bbqribs

bbqribs

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
205
Reaction score
0
Location
University Place, WA
In his book, The Ouliers, Malcolm Gladwell notes that it takes 10,000 hours of (specified) practice for success in a field, including music. At the rate I practice, you can look for my ukulele CD in the year 2040. Do you think the amount of total hours you have practiced equates to the amount of skill you have on the ukulele? (I know, it is hard to quantify accomplishment)
 
I have about 9700 hours to go. I'll be dead before I'm great.

I find that there is a consistent shape to the uke learning curve. Steep for the first few hours. Then all of a sudden it gets "easy" as you learn a few basic chords and strums. And then it gets hard again as you plateau. I don't know for sure if it starts to get easy again... I'm still on the plateau :-/
 
wolfybau said:
so if you practice an hour everyday it will take you 28 years?
Click to expand...

Yes. With other instruments you might then be a soloist, or be able to make a living as a performer. There aren't as many opportunities for ukulelists--no ukulele bars. (yet)
 
allanr said:
I find that there is a consistent shape to the uke learning curve. Steep for the first few hours. Then all of a sudden it gets "easy" as you learn a few basic chords and strums. And then it gets hard again as you plateau. I don't know for sure if it starts to get easy again... I'm still on the plateau :-/
Click to expand...
You are just holding yourself to a higher standard, but the good thing is, it is a pleasure at any level.
 
bbqribs said:
Yes. With other instruments you might then be a soloist, or be able to make a living as a performer. There aren't as many opportunities for ukulelists--no ukulele bars. (yet)
Click to expand...

I think there is more opportunity than you may imagine. I think 10,000 hours is a bit much. When I played professionally (guitar) I played 150 shows a year, rehearsed somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 hours a year in addition to 300 hours performing (rehearsal could have been a bit more, but I think that is pretty close) I did that for 15 years, that is only 9,750 hours, all of that said, I guess I stopped 250 hours short of success.

I produced 4 CDs one of which sold over 10,000 copies (not gold or platinum, but pretty good for an Irish band)

I would not look at Malcom's 10,000 hours as a bench mark for getting started, just get competent at say 30 minutes worth of music, start playing your absolute best 2 songs at open mics. Book some 30 minute openers for established acoustic acts and you will be well on your way. You can't get the experience you need with out performing.

Good Luck and don't wait arround

Michael
 
Actually, I think the original poster misquoted the book slightly. I think the book says something like 10,000 hours to master anything. That's how I've seen it quoted elsewhere, anyway. Mastery implies a level far beyond mere success. One can be successful at something, even make a living at it, without mastering it. When you have mastered something it means there is really very little room for improvement - nothing much new to learn - etc. When you apply that standard it narrows the field of candidates to a very tiny minority.
 
well if you practice your mistakes its futile so I think disciplined practice is the key to success. So if you are working a song and working on the parts you can't play to improve them, thats the ticket. whatever you practice you get good at. To practice just playing mistakes all the time won't get you anything but real good at playing not so good.... I think. Any practice is better than no practice but disciplined practice is the best.
 
allanr said:
I have about 9700 hours to go. I'll be dead before I'm great.

I find that there is a consistent shape to the uke learning curve. Steep for the first few hours. Then all of a sudden it gets "easy" as you learn a few basic chords and strums. And then it gets hard again as you plateau. I don't know for sure if it starts to get easy again... I'm still on the plateau :-/
Click to expand...

I think the ukulele is one of those instruments that's easy to play well enough to enjoy after only a few weeks or months. I feel that with pretty much all musical instruments it takes years and years of practice to become really good at it. 10,000 hours is hard to do, but any musician that has mastered their instrument will have done at least that if not a whole lot more. When I was full on practicing classical guitar I played 6 or so hours a day, 6 days a week. That adds up pretty fast and I probably covered that 10,000 hours in around 5 years.

Regarding the plateau. There really isn't one, it just seems that way because your not moving very fast. I look at it as more of a mountain that as you climb it gets steeper and steeper. The difficulty at the beginning is just the process of getting to the mountain. Once you're there you walk around the base with everyone else enjoying the view of the mountain as you start your journey. As you climb higher, you will encounter fewer and fewer people and it takes more and more work to keep going, but with each step the view just keeps getting better and better. You just have to remember to look stop and enjoy it every once in awhile. You can overcome the plateau feeling by adding more hours or more challenging techniques to your practicing schedule. If you're currently playing 1 hour a day, up it to 4 and things will start moving again.
 
I think he is right, with the exception of the existence of savants. It really is not a question of ability as much as it is a question of musical intelligence. There have been many articles written on multiple intelligences, and some psychologists believe that musical intellect is a legitimate form of intelligence.
 
An ukulele can be enjoyed right out of the case. A couple of months and a player should be able to play quite a few different types of songs. But to really MASTER the instrument? No doubt the 10,000 hours is close -- give or take. Talent probably would shorten it up. There is a big difference between playing and mastering.

I will die trying to reach those 10,000 hours.
 
There are different types of practice. The first is the basic how to hold, how to strum, play notes and chords. This is the how to learn to play an instrument and it can be done with or without songs.

The following practice is the key to being able to play successfully...

Huna said:
well if you practice your mistakes its futile so I think disciplined practice is the key to success. So if you are working a song and working on the parts you can't play to improve them, thats the ticket. whatever you practice you get good at. To practice just playing mistakes all the time won't get you anything but real good at playing not so good.... I think. Any practice is better than no practice but disciplined practice is the best.
Click to expand...

There are parts of cetain songs that I need to play over and over again to be able to play them clean. I find that if I work long enough on a section I can usually get there, but if I can't, and I want to play the song, I'll change it up a little till I get a workable solution. I have found it is better to be able to play simple and clean, than to play it complex and sloppy.

John
 
OldePhart said:
Actually, I think the original poster misquoted the book slightly. I think the book says something like 10,000 hours to master anything. That's how I've seen it quoted elsewhere, anyway. Mastery implies a level far beyond mere success. One can be successful at something, even make a living at it, without mastering it. When you have mastered something it means there is really very little room for improvement - nothing much new to learn - etc. When you apply that standard it narrows the field of candidates to a very tiny minority.
Click to expand...

Yes. (I did read the book, but it has been awhile) Guess I have to work 9,999.99 more hours on posting!
 
Huna said:
well if you practice your mistakes its futile so I think disciplined practice is the key to success. So if you are working a song and working on the parts you can't play to improve them, thats the ticket. whatever you practice you get good at. To practice just playing mistakes all the time won't get you anything but real good at playing not so good.... I think. Any practice is better than no practice but disciplined practice is the best.
Click to expand...
I think of my son who "practiced" the same song, in the same way for a year. I was so glad when he "quit" the violin.
 
That's only a little over a year, practicing 24-7 every day.
 
I read it in the book "Your Brain on Music"....a study was done.. they looked at Virtuosos in sport, music, other vocations....what did they have in common.....10,000+ hours practice.

That said a 4 foot tall basketball player probably won't make the NBA even with 20,000 hours practice, but with that much practice he probably could beat a lot of us tall folks that don't practice Basketball. What I took from it? If you love what you are doing you end up practicing more, and the more you practice the better you get.

Remember no one ever got better at playing the uke from buying a bunch of new ones.
 
10,000 hours is pretty steep. I've been playing for 35 years, and even over that span it comes out to 286 hours a year. I certainly wasn't practicing an hour a day for many of those years in the middle when life was busy, so I very likely haven't hit 10,000 yet. And I'll tell you, I wish I could sing half as well as I can play.
 
If you're enjoying what you're doing, you've achieved success.

And I think the concept of 'mastering' anything to the point of no further improvement, much less an expressive field like music, is utterly unachievable.
 
I started thinking 10,000 that hours means;

you practice 8 hours a day for 3.5 years or

if you took weekends and off and you practice 40 hours a week five days a week, you hit 10,000 in 4.8 years...

I've been working 8-10 hours a day for five or six days a week for almost 25 years doing basically the Same type of work. So why does no at work appreciate my virtuosity? I mean I’ve got to have over 40,000 hours even if you take off for, sick, vacation, no-work related story telling, jokes, etc. Maybe they figure the salary is compensation? Ungrateful SOBs!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jerryc41
Over 3,000 Songs
Replies
6
Views
420
HangOnASecond
HangOnASecond
Timbuck
Chasing the thou's. + 0.000"- 0.000"
Replies
4
Views
333
merlin666
M
K
Jonathan Dale #12, $ 1,000 or best offer?
Replies
9
Views
603
Jim Hanks
Jim Hanks
badhabits
$100,000 ukulele
Replies
14
Views
1K
Jerryc41
Jerryc41
U
Wtb kcs-ss $1,000
Replies
0
Views
218
Uberhonky
U
Top Bottom