You're listening to a piece of music and it sounds so simple and easy that you say to yourself, "I can do that." But can you really? And if you can, how come you haven't yet? Taking a first person perspective of someone else's perspective can be … [Read more...]
How To Rescue Your Time And Get Your Life Back
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the time required to become an expert songwriter. That advice could have been just as well for any craft, not just songwriting. And the number of hours that I referenced, 5,000, was arbitrary. There is no magic … [Read more...]
1,000-Hour/5,000-Hour Model For Songwriting Success
The concept is this: To be a good, competent songwriter, it will take 1,000 hours of practice. If you want to be a great songwriter, it will take 5,000 hours. Winners are made, not born. So forget about talent. Talent is a gift for … [Read more...]
The Path To Musical Excellence: Deliberate Practice
In this series, I'll do my best to help you understand what it takes to be an excellent musician and give you as many techniques as I can to take you to the top. You're about to see two sides of me. One side is called tough love. That side of me … [Read more...]
There Is Nothing Boring In Life. Only Boring People.
There is a common misconception that "things" can be boring. You may find doing your taxes boring. But some people find it riveting. Therefore, we can't say that doing taxes is boring. "It" is not boring. Then what part of that sentence or thought is … [Read more...]
Experts on Expertise — Practice Makes Perfect
...the key to dramatic improvement in any field is -- that's right -- practice. But, it has to be what Ericsson calls "deliberate practice." "A lot of people like to do things that they're already good at, but what deliberate practice says is you … [Read more...]
How To Be An Expert
From: How to be an expert The only thing standing between you-as-amateur and you-as-expert is dedication. All that talk about prodigies? We could all be prodigies (or nearly so) if we just put in the time and focused. At least that's what the … [Read more...]