Quantity is table stakes. Quality is the differentiator.

I was with my 14 year old daughter during the New York Youth Symphony rehearsal today. While watching the rehearsal, I started thinking about why these kids were chosen to perform at an elite level, what made them so much more proficient than most kids their age. I came to the conclusion that it's quality practice vs quantity of practice that is the most significant differentiator.

Everyone trying to reach an elite level is willing to work the same number of hours to achieve that level. I think we've all heard of the "10,000 hour rule" from Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers. Many people have taken that number to heart. "If I can get my child to practice for 10,000 hours, they will be guaranteed to become an expert." I think Gladwell would agree with me that that's not what he was saying. Read it more closely, and you'll see multiple references to focused practice, "deliberate" practice. Having a violin in hand for 4 hours a day over 10 years doesn't make you an expert or elite performer. It might make you proficient, but it's not going to make you great.

The quality of practice hours is as, or more, important than quantity when becoming an elite player. Author Cal Newport confirms that successful people are experts at practicing. Everyone has to put in the time, that's the table-stakes to becoming an expert. What makes the difference between really, really good and great is the quality of those hours.

Playing scales and pieces will get you facility, but it won't get you to the music. Playing a piece everyday for a year will help you learn the notes to the piece, but if that practice doesn't include focused, highly attentive listening and adjustments through immediate feedback, the exercise is nothing more than rote learning.

I'm not talking about perfection here. That's not possible. Perfection is a vision, not a goal. In order to be the best you can be at what you choose to do, it's not enough to do it over and over and over... that helps, but the "magic" comes from looking at each iteration to see how it can be improved.

After returning from the rehearsal tonight, my daughter starting practicing. I was listening closely to see what she was doing that is helping her rise to the elite level. I listened as she worked through an eight measure passage for over a half hour, not because she couldn't play the notes, but because she was trying to find the music within those notes. That's what it takes to be great, and understanding that at 14 years old is one of the greatest life lessons I can leave her with.