10,000 Hours

I’ve always enjoyed music, but it’s only in the past few years that it’s become a passion. Recently, I’ve attended concerts of America, Herman’s Hermits, and The Little River Band, as well as a tribute band for The Eagles and guitar concerts held at my college. I marvel at these musicians’ fantastic talents.

At  the Glendale Community College, where I’ve worked for the past sixteen years, I’ve been able to pursue my burgeoning interest in music. I’ve taken the history of Jazz, lessons in acoustical guitar and presently, the history of Rock and Roll. Sounds like fun? You bet.

This week we started studying the Beatles. The British invasion began on February 9, 1964, when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Some people thought they were nothing more than untested young musicians in need of a haircut. But in actuality they were skilled and experienced, having spent years playing together, developing into a group of experienced professionals.

Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outlier: The Story of Success” explains the 10,000-hours rule, a requirement to becoming truly skilled in a cognitively demanding field. He uses the Beatles as an example of how the amount of time they spent devoted to their music brought them to such proficiency.  

When I took lessons in acoustic guitar, I pictured myself playing to crowds of cheering fans. But my fame and fortune in music will never happen outside of my imagination. Why? Because I’ve never put in the time to become proficient. I figure the entire semester struggling with the guitar accumulated about 100 hours of practice. I have 9,900 more hours to go in that 10,000 hour rule.

Music isn’t the only place where this rule can apply. What about writing? Have you ever looked at the number of hours you’ve spent to become proficient? Are you close to 10,000 hours at creating your manuscripts or did you pass that number years ago?