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November 17, 2008
10,000 Hours of Practice
Sometimes when I'm sitting in the 5'x5' room with just one tiny window for hours on end, struggling through some difficult passage of music (I'm a clarinetist, by the way), I wonder why I'm there. Is that really what I want to do all my life, sit in a tiny cell-like room battling reeds and trying to sound better? But then i leave, and I realize I want to go back, and play more. But how much time does it take to reach success? According to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours. If that seems like a hell of a long time to you, like it does to me, it's because it is. That averages out to 20-30 hours a week, for 10 years. And we're not talking about just music here-it works for anything, sports, computer geniuses, musicians, you name it. It's an interesting concept-if you put that magic number, 10,000 hours, in, you will have reached the level it takes to succeed.
However, I'm just not so sure about this. It seems like you need to have some natural talent too right? Apparently there's a level where, once ever has reached it, like getting into a Conservatory, everyone has the ability and talent necessary, and it becomes who works the hardest and puts the most time in. I'm sitting here trying to think of the musicians here that are really good, are there any of them that don't really practice? Well, there are a few, but they still practice-or they lie about how much they practice, thinking that if they act like they barely do people will be more impressed with how good they are. So next time I'm lying on the couch watching tv and trying to get the energy to walk to school and get to work, I just need to remind myself that I have a long way to go. After years of slacking, I think I'm well away from that elusive 10,000 hour goal. I wonder if I'll ever get there, and if I do, where will I be. Would 10,000 hours of practice be enough to get me into the NY Phil? Don't know. What I do know is that the people with those jobs have definitely done the work necessary-my teachers have spoken of Ricardo Morales, who is the Principal Clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and while admittedly he has a vast amount of natural talent, he's been known to practice upwards on 6-8 hours a day for years and years to get where he is now, and still does. Maybe if I did that much I could be there too, but I'm not sure I want to, or that it would be worth it for me personally. If you don't want it, you'll never get it.
In the end, it's actually quite comforting to see that the people we look at who are so successful, including those mentioned in the article-Bill Joy, Bill Gates, Mozart, The Beatles, Steve Jobs, professional hockey players, etc. didn't get where they are now without working hard. They didn't just get handed fame and a few million dollars-they earned it. While there is certainly a huge component of luck involved-being in the right place at the right time (such as being born in 1954-1956-why aren't my parents billionaires???) it takes a whole lot more than that to be a true genius. (We aren't talking celebrities here, that's a whole separate story!) Maybe I'll put in my 10,000 hours, either still as a clarinetist, or in business, something I"m just breaking into, and I'll be somewhere I never expected to be. I'll get back to you in 10 years.
Posted by srelder at November 17, 2008 12:32 PM