I've heard this too, though I feel slightly uncertain about the idea of it being a hard and fast rule.
I guess there are two points here: one is how much practice an 'average' person has done. Almost by definition, a master is somebody who is exceptional and to my mind the 10,000 hour rule simply reflects the fact that most amateur musicians never put in this many hours - or at least, not within a short period of time. The other is how long it takes to reach a steady state of accomplishment, where a level of diminishing returns is reached. Surely this must vary for different endeavours? It takes less time to play noughts and crosses to an excellent standard than chess, for example. I also once read that airtime stopped being a good marker of pilot ability after the 250 - 1000 hour mark. I don't find it hard to believe it takes 10,000 hours to play the horn well, though. Perhaps more..? Kit > That's interesting. Too bad I'm pretty sure I practiced the horn for > 10,000 hours (took it 40 years ago) but I'm not close to achieving > "true mastery" :-( > > Daniel > > > On 17Mar 2010, at 14:54 , Steven Mumford wrote: > >> One of the most significant factors is what scientists call the >> "10,000-hour rule." >> When we look at any kind of cognitively complex field -- for example, >> playing chess, writing fiction or being a neurosurgeon -- we find that >> you are unlikely to master it unless you have practiced for 10,000 >> hours. ThatÂ’s 20 hours a week for 10 years. The brain takes that >> long to >> assimilate all it needs to know to achieve true mastery. > > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/c.j.l.wolf%40newcastle.ac.uk > -- Sometimes my Email program gives the wrong return address. If you have any trouble replying to me, use '[email protected]' and not 'n802...' Sorry for any confusion _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
