It has been said that it takes 10,000 hours to become expert at something. But for some it takes longer or shorter for some as shown by the Infographic at expertenough.com. For example, it takes 26,880 hours for an astrophysicist to become expert and the Neurosurgeon just requires 42,240 hours.

There’s one thing that is common to both Neurosurgery and astrophysics. They both require a long time to master their skill. Why is this you ask? Both skills require extensive training and lots of testing before they are awarded their certifications and allowed to work in their respective fields.

On the other hand, in a 2013, Ted Talk, Author Josh Kaufman argued that even though it takes on average 10,000 hours to become expert at something, it really only takes 20 hours to learn and begin to utilize that skill. However there are certain things that you must do in order for this to learn something in 20 hours

• Deconstruct The Skill
  • Breakdown the skill into it’s component parts
• Learn Enough To Self Correct
  • Learn enough to recognize your mistakes
• Remove Practice Barriers
  • Eliminate Distractions
  • Concentrate and Focus on learning
• Practice at least 20 hours
  • That’s it – Practice at least 20 hours

In his case he was learning to play the Ukulele and he utilized 4 chords to play the same progression that exists in thousands of popular songs. The chords are C Major (1), G Major (5), A Minor (6) and F Major (4). Each number here is the number that the chord represents in the Nashville number system. It is possible to learn this and play by ear in a relatively short space of time. But whether you are aiming for an expert level or just beginning, just know that there are no shortcuts and keep on Playing It By Ear.

You may be wondering why I’m writing all this about Consistency is Key, and taking small, attainable, measurable  steps to achieve your goals. Well I’ll tel you why I am doing this. It’s important to have a framework in which to achieve your dreams. They don’t just happen in a vacuum (unless your dream involves being in outer space which is the ultimate vacuum 😀).

In life we are constantly faced with challenges that affect us in certain ways. I am challenging myself to lose weight this year. My plan for that is to workout for 30 minutes every day without fail. I have a support group that I hold myself accountable to, and we encourage each other on the journey.

I am also challenging myself to write in this ultimate blog challenge. 31 blogs in 31 days. It’s a challenge. My plan is to write for 15 minutes a day on my blog to post it. But what happens when you can’t meet that challenge and you fail? Do you give up? Do you quit?

So yesterday due to circumstances beyond my control and also due to the decisions that I made during the day, I was unable to finish my blog for January 3 – Consistency is Key – Part 2. I decided that I was not going to be defeated. I was going to keep going. In the midst of your consistency

So today, I finished my short blog from yesterday, and I’m going to finish this one too. Then I’m going to pick up my guitar and practice my song for this weekend. I may be challenged, but I won’t be defeated. When you look for me I will be playing with a smile and I will be Playing It By Ear.

So another new year has begun… 2017 has come and gone… And you still want to play by ear… Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog, so here I am.

In the past, I have posted about:

• Notes
• Scales
• Chords
• Progressions
• All about that bass
• The Math of Music
• Exercise and Music
• Recognizing what key you’re in
• How to conquer your fears
• Paying it forward
• Sharing what you got
• Making a difference
• Keeping a positive attitude

Some posts are related to music and others are about life in general. It’s all very interesting to me. There is more that I will be sharing in the days to come, maybe even a book 📙 or two. There’s also another blog that I have in mind for technology, but there will be more on that later.

So this is my initial blog for the year, and I hope everyone has a Safe and Happy New Year. Wishing you all the best for 2018 as you continue to Play It By Ear!