How long does it take to become a pro or a lesson from one violin

Someone thinks that in order to become a truly professional in his field, you need to devote some 10,000 hours. Someone thinks that it is quite enough 4 hours in a day, while others practiced throughout life, giving cause for more than half of his time, and never cease to do it, because there is no perfection limit.

We are puzzled and torn between the desire to become a pro and the other part of our lives, which includes rest, joy, friends and family. Is it possible to find your balance and enjoy life to the fullest, without feeling remorse over the fact that one of the parts of our life is suffering? Is there a middle ground, or is it just a legend, invented by coaches to promise customers achieve the dream and earn money? Maybe the point is that we simply do not know how to practice right?

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Noah Kageymy, a psychologist and a violinist, has gone in search of the golden mean 23 years old.

Noah learned to play the violin since the age of two, and throughout his career he tortured one question - whether he practiced enough to reach the peak of his skill? He studied the articles in which musicians and other people of art from around the world shared their experiences.

What do great?

Rubinstein in one of his interviews he said that he considered 4:00 optimum amount of time to practice every day. If you need more time to reach its maximum, then you're just doing something wrong.

Leopold Auer thought that train your fingers, you need a whole day. If you train your mind, you will be able to meet and 1.5 hours.

Heifetz He believed that to achieve a high level of skill on average enough and 3 hours a day. He does so and leaves himself Sunday for complete relaxation.

Noah thought that his four hours a day is enough, and relaxed. But then he heard about the work of Dr. Anders Eriksson.

But psychologists say that?

Dr. Eriksson study formed the basis of the "rules of 10, 000 hours", according to which, in order to become virtuosos, musicians takes about 15-25 years. Figures are quite frightening. So much so that we are missing one very important factor in the equation.

There is a special kind of practice, which is called "deliberate practice" and that it contributes to achieving the best possible result. Besides her there are other practices that we have not heard and from whom depends our speed progress toward the goal.

unconscious practice

Have you ever watched a rehearsal for the musicians? Typically they operate on several standard circuits.

1. broken record method. This is when the same plays a particularly difficult passage to infinity, like a broken record. The same passage on the piano, the presentation is exactly the same - on the part of all, it looks like the practice, but in fact this is only the mindless repetition.

2. Method autopilot. This is when we activate your autopilot and for the assignment do not apply a little effort. It is like a game of golf or a loss of the passage from the beginning to the end.

3. Mixed method. This is when you rehearse one of the songs and play it from beginning to end, over and over again, and when you not like some piece of it, you lose it a few times, and only then proceed further. In dance, the same thing happens: you repeat a bunch from the beginning to the end and if any particular element is given more difficult, you pass through it again and again and then repeat the bunch to end.

By itself, this practice is not so bad. But with her there are three problems.

Problem №1. It's a waste of time. Why? Because you spend hours on the practice and in the end will not go along, since repeating the same thing on the machine unknowingly. Moreover, since you can make yourself even worse, because in the end fasten the same mistakes. From which, by the way, will have to borrow more to get rid of and the time of future hours of practice.

№2 problem. It makes us less confident. When playing the same piece of an infinite number of times with repetition and correcting the same mistakes at the time of entering the scene lost confidence. Composition been learned on the machine and if we make a mistake at some other piece, it is likely that out of the situation beautifully and correctly will not work. Since the autopilot is turned on, which is not able to take conscious action in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

I'm not a violinist, but a music school for a year to guitar, I went and is still vividly remember this feeling autopilot. When the fingers pluck the strings themselves without any participation of the brain. And when a few years later you take again in hand tools, wakes up all the same autopilot, but the material is already forgotten and remember a piece of the entire complex. And if I consciously practiced, something to remember the melody and re-pick up the piece would not have been difficult.

№3 problem. It's terribly boring. Repetition of the same every day for a few hours - it's so boring! It is because many parents and teachers do not understand it, quite a large number of children complete music schools almost with tears in his eyes, and then never touched this instrument (on the joy of the neighbors). And in secondary schools and universities students forever bounces thirst for knowledge.

Is there an alternative to this so familiar and boring method of practice?

deliberate practice

Deliberate practice - a systematic and highly structured activities. Let's just say it's a more scientific approach to learning new skills or improving already acquired, which gives us to replace the meaningless trial and error on the active thinking and the constant search for and test new hypotheses.

It's when you do not lose on the automatic passage over and over again, and gradually takes hold every bit separately. Studied it and are looking for the perfect sound. And only after all the pieces of the puzzle are perfect, folding them together into a coherent composition.

This ongoing analysis, which allows to get to the essence, not mindless memorization of the material, which is issued by us unconsciously and forget after a relatively short period of time. Because to achieve perfection should not just know by heart some rules, formulas or notes. To do this, we must understand the essence and put all into components made from composite more simple and easy to understand. And find a better way to solve or variant.

Not only memorize the periodic table. If you understand the laws by which it was built, any deviation in the issue of teachers from the main line will not knock you astray. Similarly, the understanding of the relationship with the topography and climate of minerals will tell about the country on a solid four (11?), Even if you did not have time to read the appropriate paragraph. Studying, analyzing, looking for alternative ways, spread on slices and improve, rather than mindlessly repeating over and over again until your fingers can not do repeat it at any time, and the word jagged text will not bounce off the teeth even if we wake up in the middle of the night - it's a waste of time and effort.

How to accelerate the acquisition of new skills?

Noah brought Kageyma 5 principles to accelerate the process of acquiring and improving new skills, which he was happy to share with the younger version of himself. I hope that they will help you to reach its perfection in less than 10 000 hours. And the rest of the time you will find what to spend;)

1. Focus - the main thing. Hone your skills as much time as you can stay focused on the lesson It may be 10-20 minutes and 40-60 minutes or more - it all depends on your personality characteristics.

2. Timing is everything. Keep track of the time intervals during which you felt a burst of energy, and try to practice at this time. Again, all of it can be different. Someone is most active early in the morning, someone - in the afternoon, and some at all the night bird. At this time, you are most productive, and your time will be used with advantage. What is the use of the lessons, if you are not able to focus on even the simplest action?

3. Do not trust your memory. Do not trust your memory and write down your major goals, and how training went and what you would like to add or change. You can make it as special programs, as well as in hard copy. Main to seize the moment and record all at the moment, when you are at the peak of your performance, and you can see clearly what needs to be adjusted.

If you write down all the ideas and adjustments, you see how many actually come to mind and remember all the times practically impossible. And why miss that might help make it even faster and perfect?

4. Smarter, not harder. Sometimes indeed the duration of the training is everything. But sometimes there are times when you need to go a little bit the other way. Once rehearsing again and again one of the passages, which is the most difficult to give, instead of success and move forward Noah got a pain in the fingers and feeling of despair. But he forced himself to stop and instead continued to torment his fingers and tools, just think a little over the fact that it prevents him to finish the job and finding the cause, correct it by another, more humane and quick way.

As I recall, direct - not always the easiest and shortest path between two points. This is exactly the case when the zeal and labor is clearly not enough.

5. Model problem solving and focusing on results. Pretty easy to just drift into a sea of ​​uncertainty and senseless practice. In order to achieve faster and better results you need to stay focused on the goal.

Problem-Solving Model contains six stages:
1. Defining the problem. What result do we want to achieve?
2. Analysis of the problem. Why does not work the way you want to?
3. Identify potential solutions. What can I do to get it the way you want?
4. Testing possible solutions and choose the most optimal. What improvements work best?
5. The implementation of best solutions.
6. Tracking results. Help if you make changes to achieve the desired result?

Our life is too short to spend to achieve the same goal of 15-25 years of valuable time, which can not be bought for any money and achievement. You only think about the possibilities that gives us a thoughtful practice and about the time that we can save with it and spend it on something else, is not less important.