The REAL secret is a no brainer, folks! It's the SAME for anything you truly desire to do:
DEDICATION RULES!!! :wink:
You want a great example??? Lookit Vic! :)
Cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
I'm quoting from memory of a blog entry by a German guitarist, i cant remember her name it was a while ago.)
She, in turn was quoting someone else, she basically stated the to become virtuoso in ANY profession( guitar,chess, tidly winks) your need to put in 10,000 hours of work, that includes practise and playing.
That really is a rule of thumb though - but to give some perspective:
@ 10 hours per day, every day, would take 3 years!
@ 1 hour per day,every day, it would take 30!
of course you don't need to be virtuso to play/perform....
at my current pace, im reckoning on under 80 hrs, i try and do one half hour session and then another 15m to 30m later per day. but it doesent always work out that way.
i'm not even 1% there! :cry:
I think that originally came from a British research project that tried to figure out what 'talent' is and how important it is to get anywhere. They interviewed thousands of violinsts, from beginners to esteemed virtuosos and asked a bunch of questions. In the end the only thing that really predicted skill level was the total ammount of hours put in. Everyone who clocked 10.000 hours or more was widely considered to be extremely talented and those with little practice were all considered to be beginner amateurs. It did not seem to matter at which age you start at all. In the beginning it seems like some learn faster then other but apparantly this gets corrected after enough hours: some beginners just happen to focus on things they are slightly better at but they'll have to do the rest someday, too.
Now remember that in modern pop music practically noone is a virtuoso, true virtuosos for whatever reason seem to end up playing music that appeals to a very select group of people, usually musicians themselves. Remember people care about what you can do, not about what you can't or didn't do. For myself I set the goal that I'd give myself ten years after which I expect myself to be able to do whatever I want to do, musically. I'm halfway there now and I think it's all going as planned, sorta. As with everything: don't worry, be happy. :D
Yeah...I agree with Herr Streudelboss...and remain convinced that DEDICATION RULES. :wink:
Cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
You know in many walks of life it is possible to have just enough knowledge to be dangerous - i trained in karate for many years and saw countless people on the verge of passing their black belt who, realising that they had progressed a lot since beginning training 4 or 5 years earlier, thought they were the bee's knee's and had an air of arogance about them.
Eventually they did pass and suddenly got belted off the matt by all the other black belts who had 15 years training under their belts! This soon changed their perspective realised that training was a lifelong endevour.
Now sure, some people will always improve more quickly than others at things for a multitude of reasons, but as long as we realise the road is a very long one, i dont think it matters if you percieve yourself as a beginner or not. I am not a good guitar player, but when i gig in pubs on a saturday it is sometimes very obvious to me that some people who cannot play or have only just picked up a guitar think im great and they will come and talk to me about learning the guitar when we are done.
it is equally obvious that there are other people who are much better than me watching, who arent impressed at all and let me know after the gig that the band is okay but it would be much better if they were the guitarist and not me. it is all a matter of the other peoples perspective, and as i dont really care what other people think, it doenst matter to me at all.
So, as long as you feel you are always improving, and try to improve on something or learn something new every practice session i think that is all that matters.
After all, there will always be somebody better than us all.
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
Almann,
That's a great attitude to have which I could say the same but unfortunately what others think affects me more than it should. I need to start caring less.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
...but unfortunately what others think affects me more than it should. I need to start caring less.
Oh, boy...are you EVER onto something with THAT insight! You MUST put yourself "in the moment" and completely forget about the other 6.6 billion some-odd souls that are on this Earth. You need ALL your greymatter focused on to what you are doing and diverting some of it (usually, the greater portion of your concentration, in fact) on what others may think!
Geez...a great insight...and certainly one not addressed all too often considering how important it is!
Cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
but unfortunately what others think affects me more than it should. I need to start caring less.
Proud of you Yoda would be.
Listen not to the dark side . . . and find the force within.
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
It is an excellent question. And, obviously, one that there is no clear answer to. I often ask (and have asked) myself the same question. In fact, until just recently, I always classified myself as a beginner.
