Posted by Rick Denney on September 05, 2003 at 11:02:57:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Becoming a professional posted by Focused Practice on September 04, 2003 at 23:01:39:
So, do what pros in all skill-based activities do: Stay focused for an hour to gain new skills, and then reinforce it with five hours of repetition. You'll still be better off than the fellow who only does the focus part.
Of course, the point of all this is in determining how best to spend one's time when trying to become a paid professional musician (assuming we take that stated goal at face value). Are those who spend four hours a day learning about the Napoleonic Wars and integral calculus more likely to win an audition and land a job than those who spend those same four hours in the practice room honing their skills? One assumes that both will be listening to music during the remaining hours, and learning about music. Six hours a day is not a full day's work for anybody, and certainly not for a student.
I recall seeing a program about prodigies that described a study that followed a group of them throughout their formative years. The conclusion was that the prodigies were not necessarily born with more talent, but that they were born with a compulsive drive to practice. Thus, when their buddies were out riding skateboards or playing street football, they were at the piano practicing their scales. Is it any wonder that they rise to the top echelon at an early age? Some make that rise later in life, but the rise seems always connected to when they make that sort of commitment to it. (Not that I'm discounting talent, which I still believe is with us at birth--but it must be developed.)
In my own work, I certainly do not stay focused for hours at a time every day, but when I do get focused, I can stay that way for hours at a time. It's a hard thing to do on purpose, though I know people who can do it. Some days I just need to fill in the blanks (i.e., grunt work) left when I was last focused, and I use those rare moments of intense concentration to outline the skeletons of what I will do in the coming weeks and months. Filling it in doesn't require that concentration, but it is part of getting the job done.
Rick "who can't think of a single skill activity that does not require many hours a day of repetitive practice to achieve the highest levels" Denney