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The Epic “1,000 Hours of Practice” Project

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Picture of London-based guitarist Stuart Bahn in action
Stuart Bahn in action – © Brian Cottam

One of the unexpected awesome fringe benefits of running a site is that you get in touch with some really cool people. After publishing my initial 12 Great Android Apps for Musicians article I got contacted by guitarist Stuart Bahn.

Stuart wanted to know if I’d be willing to test an app that he had developed. I checked it out, it worked great (really useful for any improvising musician) and featured his app in my follow-up post More Great Android Apps for Musicians.

We stayed in contact via e-mail and recently Stuart mentioned that he had a project going on of 1,000 hours of practicing in a year. Initially I thought it was some sort of New Year’s resolution and the cynic in me immediately thought, “Yeah, right, let’s see how long you’ll be able to keep it up.”

But to my surprise, shame and delight (I’m always happy to see people succeed) I found out that it wasn’t something in the beginning stages, but rather a project close to the end.

I immediately asked Stuart if he’d be willing to answer some questions in some sort of interview for AdvancingMusician – since I find the topic of how to optimise practising fascinating.

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Improve Your Rhythm With GrooveMaster Pro

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old mechanical metronome
A good ol’ metronome – © savayou

Back in the stone age of the pre-digital era when I started with piano lessons, a metronome was a weird device.

First you had to turn a key mechanism at the back of the device – like in a music box to wind it up. And there was a small weight attached to a pendulum where you could set the tempo by adjusting where the weight thingie would snap into place on that pendulum-like stick.

The lower you put the weight, the faster the metronome ticked.

And all those Italian terms engraved onto the backplate to help you set the tempo to the desired speed sounded so exotic and suave – Adagio, Andante, Allegro, Presto, etc.

Even as a kid I could appreciate the craftsmanship and the thought that went into this little contraption.

But once you had to practice with that damn thing, the relationship turned sour rather quickly. It had the annoying habit to change tempo on you. In easy passages it always got slower, while in difficult passages it increased the tempo “forcing” you to mess up.

A device constructed by the devil, indeed. 😉

But we all know that developing good timing is essential and well worth the pains you have to go through. So, a love/hate relationship with metronomes, is that what it boils down to?

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I Can’t Teach You Anything

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The School of Athens by Raphael
The School of Athens by Raphael

You know, I really can’t teach you anything.

yours truly

That’s the confession I make to every student I teach sooner or later.

And it’s absolutely true. I might have (some) musical skills, knowledge, even the ability to convey that knowledge – but that’s no guarantee that my student actually learns anything from me at all.

Because the “real” learning happens when the student is alone in his practice room experimenting and trying things out. Hopefully implementing what I’ve shown and taking advantage of the experiences I’ve collected over the years.

Think about it for a moment. You want to learn something. You have the expert in front of you. He has the knowledge – and you don’t. So, you listen and watch and expect that his expertise transfers to you.

It simply won’t.

At least not in the way most people think or hope it does. Because in the end it still boils down to YOU actively doing something with the information. If you don’t act on it, you’ll lose it or never get it in the first place.

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Learn to Play Classical and Finger-style Guitar

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Cover for Guitar Techniques course by Brian Riggs
Guitar Techniques course by Brian Riggs

The usual suspects for New Year’s resolutions are: to quit smoking, lose weight and make a career change. Also high on the list are to either improve some (dormant) skill or to add a completely new skill. Maybe even something like learning to play an instrument, which is a great resolution to have.

As popular as New Year’s resolutions are the majority of people don’t follow through. By the 2nd week of January most resolutions have been abandoned completely – which is kind of sad.

But fortunately there’s no need for an arbitrary date like January 1st to come around to decide to improve. You can make that decision at any time. Yes, even right now at the beginning of February (or whenever you are reading this post).

And while I don’t want to talk about quitting smoking or weight loss, I have a great solution for reviving or kickstarting your finger-style guitar chops.

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2014 – Goal Setting and Upcoming Projects

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nice scenery of snow in the mountains
Not the Alps, but a nice visual scene courtesy of mettem

The winters here in the eastern parts of Austria hardly ever include lots of snow. It’s not like in the Alps at all. But it can get cold and in general it’s the time of the year where I miss my stay in California the most. When I long for the California sun, the nice temperatures, the beaches, etc.

Still, I love December.

Especially the transitional period between the Christmas holidays and the new year. When it’s time to reflect and analyze what worked and what didn’t work. It’s exciting to create new plans with the new year like a blank canvas to fill before you.

The Recipe for Failure

Lots of people find new year’s resolutions lame or set themselves up for failure. They create unrealistic resolutions or goals that they think they should set without enough emotional investment to help push through the inevitable obstacles.

And when those resolutions are (naturally) broken as early as on the 2nd or 3rd of January they then diminish self-esteem and self-respect.

I used to make this mistake in the past myself. And it’s tough to beat this all-or-nothing syndrome where you feel like a failure and abandon your resolution completely just because you fell off and slipped.

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