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Message 8696
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| Subject: | Re: [RESOGUIT-L] Interesting on: Practice, practice, practice | | Date: | Friday, February 1, 2008 01:12:10 (-0800) | | From: | PHIL CATHEY <bluegrassservices @...com>
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| In reply to: | Message 8689 (written by KeimBob) |
I do sound for a young band where the lead singer is 10 years old. When he just
had turned 2 before Christmas he told Santa to bring him a guitar, so his parents
thru Santa got him a plastic toy guitar. On Christmas morning in the year 2000 he
opened the toy guitar, he pushed a couple buttons (never taking it out of the
box) then picked up the box and guitar and put it in his dads lap and plainly
said "can Santa trade this toy for a Martin guitar with strings" a very
religious family so I believe the dad who ran into me at a music store with the
little 2 year boy holding his dads pants leg staring at the guitars on the wall.
That day they took home one of the small dread knot Martin guitars. Oh by the way
no one in the family at the time played music, but now his sister 1 1/2 years
older plays fiddle and the little brother 8 plays mandolin and oldest sister 17
plays bass. It sure helps when kids are home schooled with lessons with a music
instructor 3 day a week. I feel like my young friend is another Ricky Skaggs. He
now plays a 000 D28 Martin and flat picks well while he sings at least 3 full
sets on stage WOW.
----- Original Message -----
From: KeimBob@aol.com<mailto:KeimBob@aol.com>
To: resoguit-l@elistas.com<mailto:resoguit-l@elistas.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 1:35 PM
Subject: [RESOGUIT-L] Interesting on: Practice, practice, practice
Practice often comes up on the list. Here is something posted on another
instrument's listserv that applies to the reso as well, no doubt. :
***************************
I'm still slogging thru Daniel Levitin's book THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC.
He mentions some interesting studies showing that expertise (musical or
otherwise) is more of a function of practicing a lot than anything else. He
cites numerous studies which show ten thousand hours of practice is required
to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class
expert--IN ANYTHING. He says in study after study--of composers, basketball
players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players,
master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again.
10,000 hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or twenty hours a
week, of practice over 10 years. No study has yet found a case in which true
world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems to take the
brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true
mastery. (neural pathways, brain chemistry, etc).
Levitin cites the classic rebuttal to the 10,000 hour argument: "Well what
about Mozart? I hear he was composing symphonies at the age of 4! And even
if he was practicing 40 hours a week since the day he was born, that doesn't
make 10,000 hours". Levitin points out Mozart didn't begin composing until
he was six, and didn't write his 1st symphony until he was 8. He says
whereas Mozart demonstrated precociousness early in life, that's not the
same as being an expert. He says Mozart had extensive training from his
father who was a stern taskmaster and the greatest living music teacher in
Europe at the time. Levitin says if Mozart practiced 32 hours a week from
the age of 2 to 8, he'd then have reached the 10,000 hour mark (& his papa
might well have pushed him this hard!). Levitin also says the 10,000 hour
argument doesn't say it takes 10,000 hours to write a symphony. The author
says clearly Mozart became an expert eventually, but did the writing of that
1st symphony qualify him as an expert, or did he attain his level of musical
expertise later? He cites experts who say the tunes Mozart wrote that were
at expert level were clearly after he'd been playing 10,000 hours.
I said to my wife (who played more than a major role in raising my 3 kids):
"gee, you were a busy mom for more than 3 hours a day in a 10 year period,
so that meant you were an expert", and she said, in essence, "no kidding".
My question: I started playing autoharp seriously at the age of 70, so when
I become an expert at the age of 80, who will notice & will I be able to
find my harp (RAR)? I'd better quit writing this stuff and get back to
practicing! Ron Bean, San Francisco (where surrounding mountain tops are
dusted with snow down to 1000 feet, but no earthquakes!)
**************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489<;http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489>
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