Guitarist Levels, Your path to 1000 hours |
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Guitarist Levels, Your path to 1000 hours |
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Apr 12 2012, 09:53 AM |
Like Ben was saying our goal is to play music, music is the goal not practice.
What I like about a lot of the lessons on GMC and especially Ben's, they create a piece of music to practice a certain technique. Take the Land of Legato, it's not just random trills, but a sequence of legato patterns that create a musical piece. This not only makes it enjoyable to learn and practice but gives insight into the musical application of the technique. -------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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Apr 12 2012, 02:43 PM |
The thing about the 10,000 hours theory is that it can only apply to one specific task, surely ? 10,000 hrs doesn't mean mastery of the guitar.. it can only possibly refer to mastery of one specific task. So that would mean we need another 10,000 hrs devoted to any other technique we want to master ??? Let's take alternate picking, which is the most common target for guitarists. Does 10,000 hrs even mean mastery of picking or just mastery of one specific type of lick, like outside picking ? What about inside picking ? To be honest, I think it's a little bit of outdated science, because what if 2,000 hrs of that was crap repetition and poor technique ? Let's face it, if you practice 8 hrs a day you're not keeping up the quality all that time, you just aren't. The brain can only do so much. I'm going to respectfully disagree here Mr Bone, making it sound musical is always possible with lick drills etc. In fact, I would encourage it to ward off boredom. If we're only practising hand mechanics without any melody or music we're making it harder on ourselves I think, because we're still going to have to employ the musical side of things anyway. Say if you practised only robotic licks for 5 yrs, now you've gotta start from scratch with melody etc. Better to encompass it all together from the start. It's possible I misunderstood you.. or it was a typo on your behalf ?? Its not a typo But I'll try to elaborate a little bit for now, and I'll come back to it when I have time to type more. I must confess, I am not the one to develop the concept of extremely slow practicing. It is a system that is taught at the Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow and the Meadowmount School of Music in Upstate New York. Spartak has produced more world class tennis players from the years 2005-07 than all the Tennis clubs in the US combined did within in the same time frame. For hours everyday they practice all the motions very slowly, without a tennis ball. The students at Meadowmount learn a years worth of music in about seven weeks. A core element of their training technique comes for practicing everything very, very slow. The following passage is from the book "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. Why does slowing down work so well? The myelin model offers two reasons. First, going slow allows you to attend more closely to errors, creating a higher degree of precision with each firing - and when it comes to growing mylelin, precision is everything. As football coach Tom Martinez says, "It's not how fast you can do it. It's how slow you can do it correctly." Secondly, going slow helps the practicer to develop something even more important: a working perception of the skills internal blueprints--the shape and rhythm of the interlocking circuits. If you're not familiar with myelin, it is the sheath that wraps around your neurons. The more wraps there are, the faster the pulses flow through the neuron. Practicing builds myelin. But you're right Ben, not all practice is equal. You can widdle away for hours on end and not achieve anything. I would like to discuss more topics from that book that touch on this particular subject, but I have to go to class right now I sense I'm leaving more questions than I am answering Anyhow, read the book. It will definitely change your perspective on many things. I will be doing a book review on it after the end of this semester. This post has been edited by Mudbone: Apr 12 2012, 02:45 PM -------------------- He who laughs last thinks slowest. "That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence." - Christopher Hitchens Gear: Guitars: Uncle Rufus' Twanger Classic Amps: Mississippi Boom Box Mojo: Hammer of Odin and a pair of Ox gonads Inspiration: Samuel Adams Boston Lager Zero to Hero: 1,387/10,000 |
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Apr 12 2012, 06:35 PM |
Its not a typo But I'll try to elaborate a little bit for now, and I'll come back to it when I have time to type more. I must confess, I am not the one to develop the concept of extremely slow practicing. It is a system that is taught at the Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow and the Meadowmount School of Music in Upstate New York. Spartak has produced more world class tennis players from the years 2005-07 than all the Tennis clubs in the US combined did within in the same time frame. For hours everyday they practice all the motions very slowly, without a tennis ball. The students at Meadowmount learn a years worth of music in about seven weeks. A core element of their training technique comes for practicing everything very, very slow. The following passage is from the book "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. Why does slowing down work so well? The myelin model offers two reasons. First, going slow allows you to attend more closely to errors, creating a higher degree of precision with each firing - and when it comes to growing mylelin, precision is everything. As football coach Tom Martinez says, "It's not how fast you can do it. It's how slow you can do it correctly." Secondly, going slow helps the practicer to develop something even more important: a working perception of the skills internal blueprints--the shape and rhythm of the interlocking circuits. If you're not familiar with myelin, it is the sheath that wraps around your neurons. The more wraps there are, the faster the pulses flow through the neuron. Practicing builds myelin. But you're right Ben, not all practice is equal. You can widdle away for hours on end and not achieve anything. I would like to discuss more topics from that book that touch on this particular subject, but I have to go to class right now I sense I'm leaving more questions than I am answering Anyhow, read the book. It will definitely change your perspective on many things. I will be doing a book review on it after the end of this semester. Sounds good. I definitely agree with this principle of slow practice, practising perfectly. I've been saying for a long time about 'giving yourself time to get it right' but it seems these guys take it a lot further. Very interesting stuff |
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Apr 13 2012, 03:57 AM |
Great stuff Mudbone! I am going to be adapting this into my practice! I will be checking out The Talent Code. So much to respond to, but I need to practice. I will be replying in more detail over the weekend. Btw I have to believe that after a 1000 hours of practice you are noticeably better.
Its not a typo But I'll try to elaborate a little bit for now, and I'll come back to it when I have time to type more. I must confess, I am not the one to develop the concept of extremely slow practicing. It is a system that is taught at the Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow and the Meadowmount School of Music in Upstate New York. Spartak has produced more world class tennis players from the years 2005-07 than all the Tennis clubs in the US combined did within in the same time frame. For hours everyday they practice all the motions very slowly, without a tennis ball. The students at Meadowmount learn a years worth of music in about seven weeks. A core element of their training technique comes for practicing everything very, very slow. The following passage is from the book "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. Why does slowing down work so well? The myelin model offers two reasons. First, going slow allows you to attend more closely to errors, creating a higher degree of precision with each firing - and when it comes to growing mylelin, precision is everything. As football coach Tom Martinez says, "It's not how fast you can do it. It's how slow you can do it correctly." Secondly, going slow helps the practicer to develop something even more important: a working perception of the skills internal blueprints--the shape and rhythm of the interlocking circuits. If you're not familiar with myelin, it is the sheath that wraps around your neurons. The more wraps there are, the faster the pulses flow through the neuron. Practicing builds myelin. But you're right Ben, not all practice is equal. You can widdle away for hours on end and not achieve anything. I would like to discuss more topics from that book that touch on this particular subject, but I have to go to class right now I sense I'm leaving more questions than I am answering Anyhow, read the book. It will definitely change your perspective on many things. I will be doing a book review on it after the end of this semester. -------------------- Keep on playing!
DWR My goal is to learn to play guitar like its my second language, and my first words to the world will be "Bite Me!". "Just fn play already!" Guitarist Title: Air Guitarist Guitarist Title thread DWR's EPIC Practice Journal l DarkWaveRiffer's Modern Music Mentored By Cosmin Thread Lead Mastery Mentored by Gab Attacking Scales Mentored By Alex Thread Want to know how to practice for success?? Click here!! Are you sabotaging your practice? Click here! |
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Apr 13 2012, 08:28 AM |
Btw I have to believe that after a 1000 hours of practice you are noticeably better. Then that's all that matters. It all comes from belief first ! |
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Apr 13 2012, 11:25 AM |
Great post! I000 is a great achievement! If you take those number and do a X10 then you get roughly what many neurologists see as the time it takes to achieve a level of "Mastery" (just a level of, not complete mastery) . And this applies to anything, sports, music, etc. About 10,000 hours of practice and VOILA your good at whatever you've been doing for all that time. To that end, here is a handy slider to help you work out your practice schedule. Hours per day, days per week. For reference. if you practice 3 Hours a Day 7 Days a Week it will take guess how long until you reach a level of Mastery? ABOUT 9 YEARS (Click on the graphic to adjust the sliders) [attachment=27083:howlong.jpg] The point here, is of course that (though it sounds cheesy) It's more about learning, much more than it's about having learned. It's easy to get caught up in the goal to the exclusion of the process of achieving it. This actually hinders the process itself which is counterproductive. BEN HIGGINS has made all kinds of killer posts on this very topic. It comes up quite a bit as you might imagine. My only point is to embrace the entire experience. And no matter what your endeavor or current level of skill, not to judge yourself too harshly. Every student here can say with confidence that you're a great guitar player in training just like me and the rest of the instructors. We are all still in training as well, it never stops. But who would want it to? Milestones are important, in anything, so relish them as they come Just don't let the goals overtake the process itself. Todd, that is too cool! I now see if I practice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I can be a master in just over a year! I hope I don't have to take any bathroom breaks! Seriously though, very neat reply you gave there! -------------------- |
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Apr 13 2012, 10:37 PM |
Mates, there's another thing here which should be taken into consideration. Only practicing will not transform you into a musician and it will not guarantee you will be able to perform on stage as well as you do it in your practice room. In my opinion. alongside practicing, it takes a lot of stage experience and playing in front of people and with other people, to be able to fully express yourself. When you are subdued by pressure and stress, in the first years on stage you are most likely not going to be able to shine as you know you can. Pressure does that to us in most of the cases. I am not saying it is a rule, but it's a situation which occurs pretty often and should be thought upon. spot on! Todd, that is too cool! I now see if I practice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I can be a master in just over a year! I hope I don't have to take any bathroom breaks! Seriously though, very neat reply you gave there! I practice on the potty ~ but, no one want's to hear that, I'm sure Ben brings up some great points here. The 10,000 hour thing is just one study by one guy and is a very general sort of thing. I only use it to illustrate my actual point, The study takes into consideration all the aspects of the subject in general, subject meaning "craft". I first read this topic as it relates to becoming a pro-football player, not just a pro at passing to the 10 yard mark on the side-line. But all points considered, if you sit there staring at the clock in hopes you've reached an hour-milestone, then I think general reason for the study is being overlooked ~ you're not alone if you've been playing several years and aren't pro-material yet ~ understand it takes time, and a long time at that! Enjoy what you do, don't stare at the clock and you'll be a happier person -------------------- The more I practice, the more I wish I had time to practice!
My Band Forum: http://passionfly.site/chat |
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Apr 14 2012, 12:16 AM |
Lots of great points here. I agree its not about watching the hours, but it is about optimizing the practice during those hours. People who document their progress have a higher change to succeed than those who don't, because I think its because those who do document, analyze the way they play, and make adjustments sooner, than those who have a more loose way of practicing, and playing. I heard an old saying. "A man without a plan, is still a plan to fail." I don't believe in absolutes, but I know having a plan helps immensely. Before I started documenting my progress, I would have grossly over estimated my time in practicing, but now I know, and I see how fast I am improving. So it eliminates the feeling that this is taking forever, which is counter to what you would think (watching grass grow). When in fact its like isolating everything, and focusing on improvement. I can tell you at the exact point where it no longer felt uncomfortable to up strum. I can tell you where I had committed learning the G major Scale to memory.I am documenting my journey. Also by analyzing, usually we regularly test our limits for success, and near successes.I am not bashing people who do things more organically, or driven by a need, they have an idea for a song, but they lack knowledge. So they learn what they need to, to make that song. So they are motivated by need to create, and that drives their practice. Practice should be fun. If its not, then find a way to make it so.
Another concept to practice for success is Replay Value. I am referencing thetalentcode.com: Though the motivation feels internal, in fact replay value doesn’t come from the user; it comes from the design of the game itself. Games that provide lots of roles, lots of paths, lots of possible outcomes have high replay value — people love to play them, and get addicted. Games with few roles, few paths, few outcomes have low replay value; people play them once and then quit. If you look at the practice routines of high performers, you’ll find they have high replay value. They are designed in such a way that you naturally want to do them again, and again, and again. For example: Bubba Watson, who won Sunday’s Masters golf tournament with an “impossible” curving shot from the woods, learned to control the ball by hitting a small plastic ball in his yard when he was a small boy. The game young Bubba invented was to see if he could go around his house clockwise, then turn around and do it counterclockwise. Earl Scruggs, the greatest banjo player who ever lived, practiced his sense of timing by playing with his brothers. The game went like this: the brothers would all start a song, then walk off in different directions, still playing. At the end of the song they’d come together to see if they’d stayed on time. Then do it again. And again. Pretty much any skateboarding or snowboarding practice has a high replay value: think of how the sides of a half-pipe or ramp literally funnel the athlete into the next move. No wonder they learn so fast: the replay value in most gravity sports is off the charts. The larger pattern here is that practices with high replay value tend to be practices the learners design themselves. One of the reason the learners can’t help but repeat them over and over is that they have a sense of ownership and investment — they’re not robots executing someone else’s drill; they’re players immersed in their own fun, addictive game. Which leads to an interesting question: how else can we raise the replay value of our practice? Here are a few ideas. 1. Keep score — and I’m not talking about on the scoreboard. Pick exactly what you want to learn, and count it, or time it. Musicians could count the number of times they play a passage perfectly; soccer players could count number of perfect passes; math students could count the time it takes to do the multiplication table — just as they do in addictive math-learning apps like Math Racer and Kid Calc. 2. Provide multiple roles. Basically, switch places a lot. Everybody should periodically trade positions, to experience it from a new angle and come to a deeper (and more addictive) understanding. Batter becomes pitcher; salesperson becomes client; musician becomes listener. 3. Set near/far goals. The most effective goals have two levels, one near and one far. The near goal is today’s immediate goal; the far goal is an ideal performance far in the future which serves as a north star. Putting both goals out there (as video games do so well) add a dose of sugar to the practice process, and keeps people coming back for more. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We invest in the lessons here at GMC because we see how it will make us better guitar players. I challenge anyone to find a guitar exercise that has no musical application, it can't be done, because it's all connected. If someone practices a scale for 50 hours, I guarantee they will know it. Ask them to play some notes within that scale, and guess what? You will hear melody. Same thing with rhythm patterns put the time into rhythm patterns and now you can take that play a couple of simple chords and sound amazing. I know amazing is a strong word, but I have seen it done Steve Stine from Rock Guitar for Kids showed some great examples of this. Someone once said "it doesn't matter how much you know on guitar, but what you do know. You know very well." This is something I am just learning. I need to give myself time to make the lesson a part of me, because then once I do, I can then apply it, and grow my skill as a guitarist.Where I see the disconnect is when people practice aimlessly, and don't give it enough time to get the gains from the practice that they could have, had the put more time in. They will play a piece of tab here, struggle with it, something else will than grab their attention, try that, struggle with it. Mean while reaping very little benefit had they just focused on one thing, and knowing it well. So my whole reason for this thread, was to show people when you become more aware of the hours you put in, you make adjustments sooner, and your perception of your progress isn't distorted by what you think you put in. Also makes you more aware of how you practice. I believe you can double, maybe even triple your progress this way. Also I think you realize when you employ proper technique, guidance/feedback that you are progressing faster than you think. You build momentum, and helps you get through the rough spots. I am enjoying my journey. So far I have put 28 hours into my practice since re-joining GMC. The progress I have made in the couple weeks I have been here has been very noticeable to me, and my instructors. So the 1000 hour goal I have made for myself, and using the methods of practice that I have discovered (I didn't invent) I believe will allow people to actually be performing as if they have put in 2-3000 hours in. I don't know, but I am excited to find out, by making me the first case study. I have no shame in saying that I currently suck at guitar, but what fuels me is this desire to express myself musically, the great feedback I get from GMC instructors, and community, and the methods of practice I am now using. Oh and Mudbone, I believe you said something about micro improvements, that they are hard to notice, so counting hours doesn't have much value. I have to disagree, and if I misunderstood, I apologize, but I knew instantly when I got it, because I was no longer thinking about it. It was becoming a part of me. I have been playing about 9 seconds of Metal Rhythm with Octaves over, and over, and over, I have the hours logged, but not handy. So I will guess I have put in many hours, and also I am fine tuning my practice, and the methods I am using. Where it started to click for me, is when I took the video converted in audio, and with the instructor, and backing track I used a program to slow down the tempo. So i would play along with it at different tempos. Had I did that from the beginning I would have progressed much faster, but that's ok. Any ways just by playing the first 9 seconds of the song has yielded gains in timing, and rhythm. I am trying to reach a point of critical mass, or momentum. Where once I have learned that part really well, the other parts should be easier to learn, because I have focused one one part and I have absorbed what I could learn from it. Up/down rhythmic strumming, timing, octaves (finger placement), slides, and working on speed. All of this I am sure will have a direct benefit on when I go on to learn something else. Usually I will try to learn the whole thing, and I don't give myself enough time to really know a particular element of the song, and it sabotages my efforts. I learned this from project management. take a project, and divide it into small doable chucks. Same thing with a song. OK..I could go on, but I want to go play guitar. See ya! -------------------- Keep on playing!
DWR My goal is to learn to play guitar like its my second language, and my first words to the world will be "Bite Me!". "Just fn play already!" Guitarist Title: Air Guitarist Guitarist Title thread DWR's EPIC Practice Journal l DarkWaveRiffer's Modern Music Mentored By Cosmin Thread Lead Mastery Mentored by Gab Attacking Scales Mentored By Alex Thread Want to know how to practice for success?? Click here!! Are you sabotaging your practice? Click here! |
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Apr 16 2012, 07:57 AM |
IF it wasn't for gmc, and everyone's unique perspectives, I would have never really examined closely why you should log your practice hours, and come up with the observations that I have. This is an awesome community!
Bingo Well said. WOW! THIS IS JUST A KILLER POST! FRAN PLEASE PLEASE ADD TO THE WIKI! You really have some killer info here. You clearly read every post and put serious thought in to the reply. Well done. And best of all, YOU GET IT! Balancing progress with enjoyment, using tools/goals/procedure to enhance results and realizing their are not results in an of themselves, YES YES AND YES! Well done -------------------- Keep on playing!
DWR My goal is to learn to play guitar like its my second language, and my first words to the world will be "Bite Me!". "Just fn play already!" Guitarist Title: Air Guitarist Guitarist Title thread DWR's EPIC Practice Journal l DarkWaveRiffer's Modern Music Mentored By Cosmin Thread Lead Mastery Mentored by Gab Attacking Scales Mentored By Alex Thread Want to know how to practice for success?? Click here!! Are you sabotaging your practice? Click here! |
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Apr 16 2012, 11:47 AM |
Thanks on behalf of everyone mate! You seem to be a very concerned player and your progress is showing off each time Keep up the good work!
Cosmin |
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