The 10,000 hour rule is a definite key to success – from Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
The 10,000 hour rule was proposed by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers: The Story of Success.” He proposes that, in order to become an expert in a field of study, it takes 10,000 hours of focus and practice on the subject at hand.
Among the examples he includes in his book are The Beatles, who performed over 1200 times in Hamburg, Germany from 1960-1964. The time The Beatles spent in Germany turned them into professional musicians. They looked and sounded like no one else. Their hectic schedule prepared them for the insanity that was Beatlemania. Without that time in Hamburg, The Beatles may not have ever left The Cavern Club in Liverpool and rock music would look and sound very different today.
For guitar playing, the 10,000 hour rule basically equates to 20 hours a a week for 10 years. That’s what I want to discuss today.
The good thing about the 10,000 hour rule is that it’s true: If you spend 10,000 doing something you WILL become an expert at it.
The bad thing about the 10,000 hour rule is that it’s also true: If you spend 10,000 hours doing something you WILL become an expert at it.
If you spend your 10,000 hours in unfocused practice, screwing around, you will be an expert at screwing around and playing unfocused music.
If you go into your 10,000 hours with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish on guitar and have a good game plan then your music will reflect this. It will be polished and professional.
HOW I SPENT MY 10,000 HOURS
I’ve been playing guitar for 30 years. I always wanted to be able to play the songs I heard on the radio, and eventually be in a band. For most of my pre-teens and teenage years I had my dad’s old 1970’s Alvarez acoustic guitar. It was great for rhythm playing but I couldn’t solo on it, so I learned to become a rhythm player.
When I got an electric guitar, it was a cheap Fender Squire that would never stay in tune so I just played chords. I wanted to be in a band, and I wanted to develop my soloing, but I was not focused enough to practice my scales. I found it boring and tedious and it much more interesting to me to learn chords and songs. I always found it much easier to get girls by playing an entire song than just showing off how fast I can blaze through the Pentatonic Minor scale. I was never willing to work and save to get good equipment so I could be in a band. Since I couldn’t solo very well, I was extremely embarrassed about being in a band so I avoided doing what I should’ve been doing which was working whatever jobs I could, saving money and playing with other musicians wherever and whenever possible.
And 30 years later, I do consider myself an expert at what I practiced. Acoustic guitar. I’m an excellent chord/rhythm player and I have an excellent ability to play whatever it is I hear.
It’s only in the last few years that I’ve made an effort to learn solo playing. I practice my scales just like anyone first starting guitar. I also find it fun to play my own solos over my favorite songs. This really helps me to understand how solos are constructed in a fun way that isn’t tedious or boring. So I’m putting a new 10,000 hours as I learn to become a better solo player.
There are no rules here. If you spent 10,000 hours unwisely, you can always start another one. It’s never too late.
USING YOUR 10,000 HOURS WISELY
In my opinion, I think it’s hard to put in a quality 10,000 hours on guitar for the following reason. The levels of progression get increasingly more difficult to reach.
For example: You can take someone who has never picked up a guitar before and in a matter of one practice session, teach them 3 basic first position chords (let’s say E, A &D) and they’ve instantly picked up enough chords that many artists have based entire careers on. Give it another practice session and introduce the moveable power chord shape and they’ve gone from nothing to intermediate in just two practice sessions.
But just like in a video game the first levels are easy but as you progress the levels start getting increasingly harder to reach, and I think this frustrates many guitarists and without the proper direction you can become stuck.
So how can you use you 10,000 hours wisely so you don’t get stuck?
1. HAVE A CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH ON GUITAR: This can be as simple as knowing:
I want to be in a band
I want to be able to write my own songs
I want to be able to play my favorite songs
2. SET ASIDE TIME TO PRACTICE: Just like you have designated times for school or work, or dinner you should have a set designated time to practice guitar. And by practice I don’t mean playing guitar while watching tv, talking to your girlfriend and screwing around on the computer all at the same time. Your practice time should be free of distractions and you should only be playing guitar and not doing or hearing anything else.
3. PLAY WITH OTHER MUSICIANS: Whether you want to be in a band or not, you should always play with other musicians whenever possible. If you don’t have anyone else to play with, them find some either thru school, work, music store, craigslist or your local bar’s open mic night.
4. GET WITH A TEACHER: Whether it’s thru a friend or relative, your local music store or even youtube you should always have a teacher. There are a ton of resources available on the internet for free, if you can’t spend the money, or just prefer learning on your own. You should always have that resource to go to when you’re practicing so you can stay on path (see #1).
Always remember the 10,000 rule will make you an expert. How you spend that time will determine whether you want to become a talented, polished expert or an expert at mediocrity and unfocusedness. So use it wisely.
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