Is The 10,000 Hour Rule Myth or Reality? 

First Rule: Have passion for what you do. Second Rule: Practice, Practice, Practice. Third Rule: Pray it all works out.

I would argue that being successful does not always equate to mastery. Or vice versa.

Doesnt matter if I dont master guitar, I'll still have had fun playing for those 10,000 hours

The whole point of the 10,000-hour argument is that to master something (not necessarily be famous) you need continuous practice while seeking out advice from experts and new experiences and reflecting on your work so you can adjust. One cannot blindly work at something incorrectly and become great at it. One must care and allow that care to guide you.

The problem with the 10k hr rule is that it's severely misunderstood and taken out of context. In Outliers, Gladwell mentions the rule as part of an exploration of "what makes the greats great". He doesn't state it as an absolute or isolated fact. Also, the rule actually says it takes 10k hrs of DELIBERATE PRACTICE to master A SKILL. People ignore the deliberate practice part and think it just means "if I play the guitar for 10k hrs, I'll be a master!" and that's far from true. I'd also say it's hard to define what "a skill" means. I, for one, think songwriting is not just a skill. It is a very complex activity that requires a series of skills. Also, I'm not sure I agree that having a number one song means you've mastered songwriting. I'm not trying to diminish the merit of your achievement, which I admire and respect (hey, who am I to question you?), but we must consider there are some very crappy songs that have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and reached #1, and I wouldn't say they're all masterpieces, as much as they have commercial success. Anyways, the rule is debatable and almost impossible to conclusively confirm or deny, but it makes much more sense when it's well explained, well understood and not taken out of context.

What counts it's what you do within each hour. You can mindlessly practice excercises for 3 hours, and just half an hour being fully dedicated, concious about what you're doing; and it will be worlds of difference. And luck within this also, maybe you meet some teacher that changes your perspective on things, or guides you in some way that will take you less time for some things. Past experiences also help a lot. Before studying music, I've was a software programmer, and I went 2 years to Math college. The logical thinking I've develop over the years helped me understand and analyze sheet music, and a lot of theory concepts, patterns. And I've noticed with my mates at music school, some things I find easy to understand and conceptualize, find "the math", the logic, behind it. And I see my friends struggle, like they don't see some of the patterns, or really think about them at all.

So my 30 minute guitar lesson once a week is not enough to master the guitar?

I stopped playing for a couple of years. When i started playing again, my level started to increase radically. I found that what i learned in the past i assimilated and digested and i could see things more clearly and analyse what i was doing.

Happy new year Rick. I love topics you bring up, always interesting. Thank you !

Good food for thought Rick. Wishing you and your family a happy and productive new year. Many thanks for the content you post.

Happy New Year Rick ! Thanks for all your work =) Your book is really good to spend tons of hours studying it!

Great video Rick!!! I really liked your references and your point about mastery being hard to define. :)

This is outstanding information, Rick! Thank you!

Great video and totally on point. Hard work, diligence and time... Great vid.

I had worked in a bookstore for about 18,000 hours when Gladwell's third book, Outliers, arrived and a stack was immediately placed on the bestseller table due to the success of his previous books, The Tipping Point(2000) and Blink (2005). Each of those had a stack in permanent residence on our paperback bestsellers table. I had sampled them way back when, but had not been drawn in. One of my colleagues and I were stocking the table the day Outliers arrived. We had never discussed these perennial sellers. I pointed to The Tipping Point and Blink, and asked her, "What do you think these?" Her two word reply: "Mental popcorn."

Love your stuff Rick - and your delivery!

Probably easiest skill to master: procrastination.

Mastering a skill does not automatically mean success! Hard work does not automatically mean success! Having the right skill, at the right level, at the right time and in the right place and be willing to work hard, together with the confidence to take a risk, will probably result in success of some sort.

Informative and Thoughtful Video, Thanks for Sharing

Always interesting topics that make us think, always, in this channel. thaks, man.

Great video! 🤘🤘

Greatness! Ditch your lighting. Warmer lighting. Love everything you post!

Awesome stuff. Thanks for the inspiration.

It's not just 10,000 hours of doing the activity. It's 10,000 hours of DELIBERATE practice. That's the word which is often left out when people quote the 10k hour rule. Deliberate practice is purposeful, systematic. A deliberate practice session has a specific purpose. It means you strategically choose what you do to tackle your weaknesses, you practice out of your comfort zone, you practice at the edge of your abilities in order to push your skills a step further. And of course, 10k hours is just a rule of thumb. It gives you a rough idea of what it actually takes to become really really good at something.

What about the 1 Second Rule? You know, the amount of time it takes me to like your videos. You're the best dude on YT! You've taught me more than I'll ever know. Have a Beato New Year!

I'm close to spending 10k hours watching Rick Beato videos.

Thank you fir sharing your perspective on this. It helped me make a decision.

Great analysis, thank you! :)

BEATO!!! I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS SOO MUCH, ESPECIALLY TO MUSIC AND THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO!!

Love your videos! about this topic I read Robert Greene’s Mastery is an excellent book. Happy new year!

Great video and 100% true!Greetings from Crete !!!

Happy new year💐

My favorite channel. I can listen to anyone talk about music for hours if they know what they are talking about.

Thanks Rick! That really encouraged me:)

well done Rick, i don´t car about all the thoughts you have done it!

Linguistically and logically laid out...well done!

Rick, your RU-vid content is great, and worthwhile. Substance gives you staying power. I subscribe to too many channels, but yours continues to reward. I’m posting to thank you, but also to throw shade on whoever is hitting thumbs down on your videos. Anybody in the music business has to have a thick skin to withstand reviews. But I’m left wondering what factor petty jealousies of other musicians play in all this. Seems like, no matter what the level - local bands to top tier professionals - the music business is rife with insecurity and envy. “Nothing you can do that can’t be done, nothing you can sing that can’t be sung...” I’ve never been one to pick favorite colors or rank great efforts, but something about this Beatles song resonates more and more with me. Thanks again.

You can practice for 10,000 hours and be super technical on the instrument you pick. That doesn't mean you will be musical, does it?

excellent topic, ive been looking into music independently for years, never heard of this before, thanks alot Rick!!! its also new years 5am here, just outta work, im gonna sleep and try this again later but thanks again!! haha

Nice video!!! A different point of view on something so familiar; practice makes perfect.

Fantastic videos

Ah talking about ear training I'm kinda lost on that department, I hope you release your ear training course soon :) Happy new year Rick!

On the other hand, there's also that thing about the beginner's hunger. It is commonly associated with the energy, drive and intensity of youth. You see how often it is that the debut album or first batch of albums by a band hapens to be their best? Later on in their careers they would only try to revive that power but very few succeed. It is the sort of thing that happens in the moment and cannot be replicated even if one later on tries to redo it with presumably more experience/ skill. For some reason nothing can beat the first shot. Yes, practicing a good long time to the point that you become very well-versed in your craft is perhaps a very logical way of looking at how virtuosity is developed -- but there's also that something else, that other domain which does not necessarily correlate with how much time was put into doing something. Furthermore, there is that issue of getting "past your prime". You see, there will always be a point of decline even if you continue to practice hard. This leads me to surmise that time spent in honing skills as a prerequisite for becoming really accomplished perhaps only tells a fraction of the story...

and Happy New Year!

10.000 hours of effective practice. Not just practice. I play my instrument about 4 hours a day, but i don't think that I get any more than 1.30 hours of hyperfocused, effective practice a day. I have goals and practice towards them, but some goals I reach before others. I think this is because those are the goals I was truly focused on while practising. My point is that I think it's a stretch to just count all the hours spent on an activity as good practice, you have to take in to consideration that a lot of those hours were spent not as effectively as they could have been.

I disagree with your premise. You didn't master the art of record producing the day you achieved a platinum record. You mastered it long before that. Having a platinum record require a lot of things to come together that are mostly out of your control ... the right songs, the right artist, the right moment in time. It's not all on your mastery of production. Other examples you offer contain the same flaw in logic. I think the 10,000 hour rule is more right than wrong.

Great video Rick! You should make a video explaining your life, and what you did in music. You seem like you have an amazing track record, and some people like me don't really know what you've done. I've learned a lot from your channel, but I'd also like to learn about who's teaching me. Keep up the good work!

I've had very similar experiences, albeit in some different fields. Playing guitar started as a passion with zero foresight or vision. In the beginning I just wanted to experience creating certain tones, which meant endlessly repeating riffs and tweeking knobs. This drove my dad nuts and he finally said: "maybe you should learn to play songs". I took it to heart and started working on chords and changes. Then a new friend taught me the minor pentatonic scale and I suddenly "saw" the connection between riffs/soloing and chord progressions and began to learn songs and write; that seemed to happen overnight. Next up, my wife got tired of me experiementing with bands in basements and told me to get out and play, even if it meant solo shows. When I did, I realized three things very quickly: 1) I needed to learn a lot more songs 2) I needed to change how I play (mostly right hand technique) in order to sound "bigger" than just one guy. 3) I needed to learn more about singing technique/s. This also seemed to happen relatively quickly. For me, each improvement came with a kind of compulsive desire to practice (sometimes orderly and/or with guidance, often without either), some type of imagined larger context or vision, and access to technology and/or information that enhanced my experience. Each of these elements were present when substantial gains were made in my experience.

Interesting thoughts on the topic, Rick, as usual You addressed this in a live stream when I asked you about it, but you've done a wonderful job of expanding on your ideas and tackling the issue. It also gives a lot hope to those of us who might be late bloomers...though maybe not in the world of chess! Still, that could be another possible topic for you. One finds a great many late bloomers in the world of art, whether it be painting, music, writing, etc. Thanks for another insightful video.

I've seen incredibly hard-working, talented friends spend their entire lives chasing passions and get nothing and I've seen talent-less hacks show up and be given careers. Because we live in a word of "gurus" and survivor bias it's very hard not to beat yourself up over lack of success. I've had success through hard work but goddamn do I realize how much luck and circumstance have played.

Great video Rick. I think more than how many hours it's probably what to study and how to study.

The most important thing is to start. "Doing" opens the door to serendipity.

There could be a delay between mastering something and the world recognizing that master-mint.

This is an interesting concept. I’ve never thought about rating the number of hours spent creating and learning, but this makes a lot of sense.

While i can't necessarily agree nor disagree with that theory,which i heard of some years ago and never knew the origin of(thank you!),i do know that in the years i've been playing,writing performing,etc. ever so often,ill hit these plateaus in my playing where i get "the AHa moment" where a whole lot of information just kind of gels together all at once and sends me further along.these days,it mostly happens in the area of my understanding of theory and composition,which is great for my students.whatever it can be attributed to,be it 10,000 hrs. or prodigious talent or LSD in my earlier years,all i know is its a blessing and a gift to be passed on to those that want to learn.your videos are great,man.keep up the good work.i point all my pupils your way.

I agree with you. The 10,000 hour rule is bogus. I have played guitar since I was 8 years old. Im 64 now and haven't mastered the instrument.Can I play well? YES Can I play like the best of the best Hell no. Yet I have seen young children in their early teens who can shred on guitar and sing too!!! They just have that special thing. "Talent" is real.

Learning how to practice deeply and efficiently is the key. You can play a song for 10,000 hours but if you continually make the same mistakes you are only mastering mistakes. Great video! Love it!

you cover all bases, thank you 😊

luv it! had heard of this.

Wish you all the best for 2018, Rick. The last post of 2017, (last but not least), was a killer! Bravo. I've never heard of this 10 000 hours rule before, and learned a thing. Anyway, I really like the way you teach things.

great points, not everyone does and focuses on just one thing

I would be interested in hearing how you accomplished the RU-vid subscriber feat in one year. Any videos on that?

You work at your own pace. Some of the top virtuoso musicians reported practicing for 10 hours and others for 2 hours. It really depends on the individual. Some people are faster learners than others. Find your own pace and work at it and practice and you’ll get there! It’s not about talent but hard work and dedication. Of course there are people that learn really fast and are way better than you in far less time but if you work 10x as hard as they do you’ll exceed them. And remember there’s always gonna be someone better than you so don’t get discouraged and give up.

Hey Rick,, got to thinking. In my very, very, very limited time learning to mix and record my tunes(mostly covers admittedly) I have have come to realize that the different tools (ie. Compressors, Limiters, Upward expansion, noise gates, gates in general, saturation devices etc.) all affect each other in the mix and often may satisfy some of the same needs or requirements as another plug in. But, are there any 'almost set in stone' approaches , say, using compression and expansion simultaneously that are do's and don'ts. Some of it is common sense (when to use a limiter vs compression and still,,,overlap in some functionality) but have you covered any of this subject in previous videos? Thanx Rick. Happy New year to you and yours!

Happy New Year Beatians! The thing is everybody is different. People pick up certain things quicker than others. What quantifies mastery? Some of the jazz masters say they're still learning music in their 70s and 80s. Also it is very important what you do with your time. Noodling for 6 hrs a day is unlikely to produce the same results as 1 hour of applied learning. You could develop more in one month with applied, focused learning an hour a day than a year of noodling. Work hard and try to be consistent and the results will begin to show, 3hrs a day for ten years you should at least be very good at what you do!

The key is to be passionate and perseverant and put in the work. Also, do things that you have more of a predisposition for. That's not to say we shouldn't strive for things we are not naturally gifted at, but certain things come easier and yield better results.

Greatness requires true passion AND practice

Well stated at the end. Luck really has a lot of impact. As well as, of course, the hours...

I agree with you Rick… But I always love to hear Malcom’s ideas. Love that guy!

Great topic for discussion. I feel there has been some misinterpretation by some. Gladwell doesn't say "10,000 hours and you become a master at your 'thing", the research across a number of case studies pointed to approximately that number. Obviously it will depend on the individual, he does acknowledge that. Also the definition of 'Mastery' is a very grey area. There is no way (in my opinion) that having a disc go Platinum, or scoring a number 1 hit is the benchmark of compositional mastery. That was achieved way before that point. The other major misconception from a lot of the comments below is that Gladwell does not saying just doing the 'thing' for 10,000 hours makes you a master, but deliberate, focused practice with constant reflection and planning. I would bet that the large numbers quoted by Rick and others below could easily be trimmed by a significant amount if time taken 'noodling', making a coffee, bathroom trips, and over -repetition of things while practicing were taken off the number. I am currently participating in a friend's Doctoral research on the topic. As part of his thesis he has 4 people undergoing 'skill development', one with coding, 2 on musical instruments and a golfer. I am learning the Chapman Stick (having specialized and 'mastered' the trombone, playing professionally in orchestras and West End shows) and I am up to 457 hours (I still suck! I have videos on my page at various stages of the time). It's an interesting process. I am part of the 'cross-over theory' section where skills in a related area should carry over to the learning of the new area. The golfer started literally from nothing and at approx. 9000 hours in he is applying for his PGA tour card. Sorry for the long post. A great topic. Rick, your stuff it literally my favorite thing on the internet.

I followed this 10,000 rule for Piano skill in about 4 years. Yes, I works like a charm if you do it right. Playing piano required muscle memory, and definitely need good amount of practise. I put 4 to 5 hours a day for practise and am happy with the result. It's a mindset goal rather than exact amount of 10,000 hours. It varies on many variables such as the quality of practice, teacher involvement, time of practice, thought process in practice, etc. The more variables involved the more skill and less hours I got.

Practice makes BETTER. Nothing is perfect.

Love ya, Rick! Hope you reach 1M subscribers in 2018! Let's lay down some tracks this year, too! -JT

I completely agree with the comments on distinguishing mastery and success. This is my attempt to define success. I think we can all agree on what is mastery without much debate: being better than almost everyone in some skill. It's like a competition, you wanna be at the top 1% of the class, then 1 in 1000, then 1 in 100,000, etc. But success is much much harder to pin down. Here is a definition that works for me: success is achieving your goals. So if you set the bar low enough you can become automatically successful, right? The trick is that achieving easy goals in not at all satisfying. Success that does not bring satisfaction and foster self-esteem is not complete. I think when we call someone extremely successful what we implicitly mean is that that person set their dreams/vision as their goals and achieved specifically those goals. You know the question "what would you do if you knew you could not fail"; if you can answer for yourself it reveals your core values and your vision. The people we think of when we are talking about success are those who looked liked from the outside they set goals in line with their core values and set them without putting any constraints on the goals whether they thought those goals are achievable or not. Being successful in the computer industry may indicate that you are a master entrepreneur, business leader, manager of people, etc; it does not necessarily mean you are a master programmer or designer or engineer. Did Steve Jobs himself invent the products that made Apple the brand that it is or he had an unrelenting crystal clear vision about what he wanted and he was a master at managing talented people to design the products he envisioned? Anyway we can all think of numerous examples on mastery, talent, success, etc that we can dissect. Wow, you are still here 😊

Very interesting discussion. I think there is a difference between mastery and professional success, and the relationship between the two differs depending on the specific field. With chess, the correlation between mastery and professional success is quite high. With other professions such as music or acting, one's professional success depends on many other factors other than mastery. There is natural talent, of course, but there are also factors like good looks, good marketing, or just good luck which have nothing to do with mastery. Also, if an actor or musician has a reputation for being difficult to work with, it will be harder for them to achieve professional success even if they achieve mastery. That is why I believe that coupling one's mastery level to the awards one has received is problematic.

First of all, I love your videos. Thank you for making them. What Gladwell says in that book is that you need at least 10.000 hours to master a skill. Not that after you practice for that long you will automatically master your skill, you my require more practice. He also says that to be successful you don't need to be the best, just good enough. That's why there are some people who may achieve success in less time. Basically, the message of the books is that if you want to master a skill, you need to put a lot of effort, at least some natural ability and even then you may be great, but it doesn't mean that you will be successful. It's a really good book. I don't know if you read it completely, but I would definitely recommend it!

How do you split it? Guitar playing? Or guitar Jazz playing, or Metal?

Hey Rick, (Dude you Rock!) I am not sure where to put a question like this. I read music at a 3rd grade level. I can sight read rhythm and can read key signatures. (played percussion my whole life). This is a 25 year long struggle, that I just can't solve. Which is the key on the piano, with the note on the staff, with the note I hear. I am not sure what to practice daily to build those chops. Any one of those, I can get progress and when I put all 3 together it's like I am trying to speak Dolphin language, or martian. (it's seriously embarrassing with other players often) I would think a software plugin would be able to connect all 3, while I am running scales, chords or fake books. I have not found it. Is it better to memorize one cold, and slowly add more? Thanks for your Channel. Love it. :D

practice, practice, practice, and practice some more!!

well.. between the video and the comment section.. i learned something today thank you all

To actually master something is impossible, mainly because once you´ve reached the level of a grandmaster you find completely new avenues of attaining even more skill in your selected field of expertise . Same goes for perfection . In short : we humans don´t even live long enough to get close to attaining mastership or perfection in any way or form .

It's not about the time someone puts into their practice, it's about the quality of practice they put when practicing.

I always took the 10k hour rule as kind of way to de-mystify how someone gets really great at something complex. It takes A LOT OF TIME. Some people think that's just too simple of an answer, and they are sort of right. It doesn't just take time, it takes deliberate practice. That means the person organizes their learning with lesson plans and a good teacher. They don't just stare at a piano for 10k hours and all the sudden they are a master at it. I always took it as encouragement... If I'm not nearly as good at playing drums as I want to be, I can think to myself "well, I'm nowhere near 10k hours of practice, so how can I be that angry at myself that I'm not as good as Neil Peart yet?" Not that I'd be as good as him at 20k hours! But it gives you perspective on talent and ability and the work needed to achieve mastery at something.

I subscribed because of this video 👍

Beato, I teach topics related to creativity in a Master's Degree in Creative Industry, and I think that what you're comparing are two different natures, possible, one thing is the ability of master something, how to do in a certain level, and other is a measure of success (a platinum record, a hit song), those are measure of success, not just good level of production... so maybe this can distort a little bit the concept in argument. Great videos, I like a lot, congratulations!

Can you make a video what you did in music production.

Rick,I come from a family who all wanted to learn to play music and did.However,I became the most accomplished player,not because I was the most gifted,but because I spent years and years dedicated to learning. I had to practice ten times as much as one of my brothers in order to master something. Not all players are created equal. If you have a certain gift for a task you advance at a very different rate. All people have to dedicate a certain amount of time,but it is much less for some than others. Talent is everything when it comes to learning.

Ericsson does not like his work mentioned by Gladwell ;) K. Anders Ericsson wrote in "The Danger of Delegating Education to Journalists". "In fact, the *10,000 hour rule was invented by Malcolm Gladwell* (2008, p. 40) who stated that “researchers have settled on what they believe is the *magic number for true expertise* : ten thousand hours.” Gladwell cited our research on expert musicians as a stimulus for his provocative *generalization to a magical number* " If you need a silly vague formula to motivate you, you're doing something wrong! Happy New Year!

I recommend reading Robert Greenes book Mastery. You've made some great points. He explains mastery as something quite different. I think you'd enjoy it.

Talent, work and luck, and being in the right place in the right moment.....that's it

...it’s more of a guideline than a rule.

Most really good guitarists i know fell asleep with a guitar in their lap every night...waking up when guitar hits the floor....i personally believe 1 hour a day MINIMUM.

Any opinions on McNaught guitars

I practice martial arts most of my life , you never have the feeling of mastery ..it becomes an inner journey which never ends !

Hi Rick! I like your channel (recent subscriber). I want to play a musical instrument one day (maybe guitar or piano). But, I am 46 years old. Is it too late for me? I don't need to learn it to a professional level. Just for my own enjoyment. Is it possible to start so late in life and still get to a good level of skill?

liked what you said at the end. It's been kicked around way to much on RU-vid. Not a good way to measure progress or success.

I think you may be missing the point here Rick. Gladwell is merely throwing down a generalized view of mastery across various disciplines...and is attempting to provide a measure...that will produce his result if stretched across x number of areas of mastery... Just as his book “Outliers”...alludes...this standard will not apply to everything...and there will be “outliers” that will demand much more time.....”quantum physics” comes to mind...or anything that possibly changes over time...through new knowledge or technology...so that you end up “chasing it” well across the 10,000 hour benchmark....

I think it's the quality of your practice or training and the insight you gain from it that determines how quickly you master something. Motivation is key though. If it really means something to you to learn something then you are going to work a lot harder at it.

Nice Buddy

I have the odd experience of growing up in musical family and “preforming” for the first time at the age of nine. Singing and playing guitar most of my life, on the couch and in bar bands. Recently, I took a long break- about seven years. Didn’t play more than 30minutes a few times a month often going weeks without playing at all. I was never great but I was a solid player with a decent musical vocabulary. I have recently gotten interested (and have the time) to play more again and have found the muscle memory isn’t there as solid right now so it feels clumsy at times but more interesting is that my tastes have changed and the patterns and fills I used to play are still there, but new stuff is coming to the surface. Sometimes its like “where did that come from?” Or “why didn’t I go here before?” To get back to the subject, It’s sort of like even though I wasn’t practicing, I was still learning somehow. I’m sure some of it is that I had grown tired of playing the same stuff, took a long break, and have just been paying attention to what I was listening to but my playing has changed significantly in a good way. Hopefully the speed and dexterity comes back quickly because I’m enjoying my new found vocabulary I’m trying to play now. This makes me think there is a difference between skill and knowledge and they aren’t tied together in lockstep, one can advance even as the other is falling behind. It feels like previously my skill was improving while my knowledge was getting stale and then my knowledge increased as I let the skills go away. I may be odd about this but I have heard other people describe their relationship with playing music as progressing in steps like going up stairs, periods of quick learning interrupted by periods of little improvement. This feels like a big step, almost like I had to unlearn some old ways that had become automatic in order to “make room” for something new. I hope I’m not sounding too weird or personal about this but it’s an interesting time in my musical life and I’m looking forward to getting my callouses back! Lol, right now my fingers are just sore.