(Log in to disable ads.)


This is something that recently sparked interested, hearing people say you become an expert by doing something for 10 000 hours.

Sure practicing the correct stuff will help alot. Practice don't make perfect, it makes permanent.....

So with a quick calculation, getting the average of hours i knew i play in certain years (i play a lot less now than when i started), i came to the conclusion that i have done roughly 9000 hours in the last 11 years of playing(the initial total was higher, but subtracted some hours to make it more realistic), which is about a year of my life spent playing guitar.

and if i compare my playing today to a few years back , i haven't improved much, my melodies and licks is still the same, and a few fancy things i learned, but one thing that had a major improvement was learning to write better songs quicker.

anyone else care to share on their experience ?
    I estimate I've prob only done 2000 - 3000 over the last 7 odd years... I averaged it around 5 hours per week. Which includes time "gigging". I really should put more time in.

    Shoulda started when I was younger when it's easier to have free time... lol.
      I'm not going to even try to add the hours over the last 14 years, there are many.
      I will say that I spent most of that time rather stagnant.
      I started lessons with an awesome teacher a year ago, having had my last guitar lesson when I was in matric (and I'm now 27). I have progressed more this last year than I did over the previous 5. I am certain of it.
      This teacher also made me realise that whilst my previous teachers were great guitar players, neither of them were even mediocre teachers.
        Not even close!
        Manfred Klose wrote: This is something that recently sparked interested, hearing people say you become an expert by doing something for 10 000 hours.

        Sure practicing the correct stuff will help alot. Practice don't make perfect, it makes permanent.....
        I think one needs to keep in mind that an hour isn't an hour isn't an hour. I agree that practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect...

        I can spend an hour noodling or an hour refreshing on a couple of songs, but that is not the same as spending an hour really practising something... by that measure I'm very very far off, because spending the time to practice properly only pays off down the line, and I'm after the instant fix mostly...

          I'm WAAAAAYYYYY-AAAAYYYY past 10 000 hours and still not an expert. So, popular belief might be a bit off in this case.........
            I think it's more supposed to be about 10 000 hours of the right kind of practice to become and expert/master.

            Mindlessly noodling away for 50 000 hours isn't going to help much likewise even 2000 hours of the right kind of practice can yield some pretty impressive results.

            It's like £10 000 versus R10 000
              Yeah, the whole point of Maxwell's book (and the 10 000 hour principle) is that we have a skewed concept of what "talent" is and that we need "talent" to succeed.

              His point is that people succeed (Like his examples of The Beatles, Bill Gates etc) because they've put in their 10 000 hours to master something and not because of some innate talent that you have.

              To quote Macklemore:

              "The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint
              The greats were great cause they paint a lot"

                • [deleted]

                • Post #8
                I'm sure that's everybody's pet hate...to be called "talented", and not "hardworking"!

                I'm not even going to bother calculating hours... I can say that I've become better at playing since I've been in the band. Even the nursery school stuff has become more fun. Sticking to one thing too much seems to restrict you, and once you start branching out it snowballs.

                Creatively I've grown more in the past three years, than the six years before that. I think, looking back, there were definite "growth spurts" and "quiet times".
                  I'm way over too and I know a lot of better guitarist with not even half that. Doesn't mean a thing.
                    Interesting

                    i come from a very non musical family, only started in high school, for the first few months i could barely play a simple song like bad moon rising, i just didn't have any natural rhythm, cause i was trying to calculate everything to be perfect.
                    and then one day i could just play anything i tried. i learned the most from playing with other beginner/pro guitar players, but noticing bad habits and trying to get rid of them.
                      Mixerboy wrote: I think it's more supposed to be about 10 000 hours of the right kind of practice to become and expert/master.

                      Mindlessly noodling away for 50 000 hours isn't going to help much likewise even 2000 hours of the right kind of practice can yield some pretty impressive results.

                      It's like £10 000 versus R10 000
                      Gladwell's theory is too simplistic. If you start playing at 15 and you play 30 minutes a day by the time you're 70 you'll have 10 000 hours. I doubt it'll have made you a great player. Distribution of the practice is significant as well. One of his examples is the Beatles. That's a good example: they had lots of live shows under their belt - over a 1000 - before they signed a recording contract. And a lot of those shows had been in Hamburg where they played 7 nights a week and several hours a night. And they were still in their early 20s. They got their hours in in large, intense chunks and whilst they were young.
                        Somewhere on lifehacker I recall reading some thoughts on the 10000hr theory - The interesting part was an opinion of 10000hrs to master but only 20hrs to develop competency at the chosen skill.

                        Maybe it's a bit like eating a elephant - 20hrs effective practice, reflects a bite out of the elephatine size task of mastering the many, many varied aspects developing one's musical talent(s) on the guitar?
                        Mixerboy wrote: I think it's more supposed to be about 10 000 hours of the right kind of practice to become and expert/master.

                        Mindlessly noodling away for 50 000 hours isn't going to help much likewise even 2000 hours of the right kind of practice can yield some pretty impressive results.
                        +111
                          Mixerboy wrote: I think it's more supposed to be about 10 000 hours of the right kind of practice to become and expert/master.

                          Mindlessly noodling away for 50 000 hours isn't going to help much likewise even 2000 hours of the right kind of practice can yield some pretty impressive results.

                          It's like £10 000 versus R10 000
                          The key is in bold... hehe.. Often when I practice songs that I know pretty well before playing them live (to refresh my memory) I add in extra riffs and runs... so I am "noodling" but it helps me think outside of the box for that song. I think that's a little constructive... dunno
                            I think it's good to separate the two, focused practice for a half to one hour, and then noodle away to your hearts content for as long as you want.

                            You most likely won't "stumble" upon some good riffs/ideas when you are focused practising so noodling is still a prerequisite and definitely has it's place.
                              Manfred Klose wrote: Practice don't make perfect, it makes permanent.....
                              No truer word was ever spoke. Practice makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect.
                              With guitar, im so far behind, i dont think i will ever get to 10 000 hours. :-[ :'(
                              With my dancing career, im closer to 17 000 hours 8)
                                12 days later
                                One thing i do is play things that are challenging this may sound crazy but after time even if you may struggle you will see improvement over time if you stay with it , there are also different areas of music , technique, composing (theory) improvising or just learning a new song. I try find my weakest area and build it into a strength , for example improvising and theory are my strengths and technique has been a weak area and have been focusing on practicing difficult things like flight of the bumble bee for right hand technique.
                                  Write a Reply...