Several years ago I watched a TV interview with a world-famous jazz trumpet player who remarked that "People are always coming up to me and saying 'I'd give anything to play like you do!'
"And so I ask them, are you willing to practice five hours a day?" Would-be trumpet players start frowning and making faces and shaking their heads No, and that's when he points out "Practicing five hours a day is what I have to do."
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In the early 1990s a study of violinists at a Berlin music academy was undertaken to determine what specific factors separated virtuoso students from their peers ... the students considered either "good" or "average."
The students were divided into three groups according to their level of playing skill. The first group consisted of students with the potential to become virtuosos; the second group was considered good enough to become professional musicians and the third group of students was rated sufficiently proficient to become music teachers.
The study found that between the ages of 8 and 20, virtuoso-potential students had logged more than 10,000 total hours of practicing. The students good enough to become professional musicians had 8000 hours and the third-tier students had accumulated 4000 lifetime hours or less.
That means potential virtuosos averaged practicing 30 hours per week ... over 4 hours per day ... for 12 years. The professional-level students averaged 23 hours per week while the third group averaged 15 hours per week, which translates to just over two hours of practicing per day over 12 years.
The study also determined that unquantifiable variables like "natural talent," "perfect pitch" and "a willingness to work harder than anybody else" made absolutely no difference whatsoever. Read that sentence again.
The students' level of performance only depended on how much time they'd put into practicing. Period.
Lots of folks claiming they's give anything to be world class trumpet players, violinists or guitarists simply aren't willing to log the 10,000 lifetime hours it takes to get there.
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In more than 36 years of service and with over 1550 daily flights, SkyWest Airlines has never been cited in a fatal accident.
The average newly-hired airline pilot has 4000 hours of flight experience and flies 75 hours per month. Many SkyWest pilots have over 10,000 hours of flight time.
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I started thinking about why people sometimes complain "God isn't listening" as if that proves "Prayer doesn't work." But if prayer is a dialog with God (and not just an opportunity to tell God our wish lists), have we stopped to consider what God thinks of our prayers and our answers?
"He/She isn't listening, and that proves prayer doesn't work."
Why do we think prayer's just a one-way street?
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I also started thinking about how much time I've spent praying and reading Scripture over the course of my life and realized that if praying was like learning to play a musical instrument, I wouldn't come anywhere near close to being included in the group considered sufficiently proficient to become a prayer teacher.
All of us want to pray like virtuosos when an emergency arises and we feel it's time for God to sit up and pay attention. But unless we make time and create a daily habit, it just seems like too much trouble and aggravation to put in all those hours of practicing .
