12 Feb
2010
12 Feb
'10
2:51 p.m.
On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 09:42:04AM -0500, Paul Davis wrote:
1) most of us don't know what are talents are
2) "genius is 90% perspiration, 10% inspiration"
3) some recent estimates are that it takes about 10,000 hours (*) of
just about anything to master it. this is said to be independent of
"talent".
4) if you think you can become a craftsman through will and effort
alone, you probably haven't tried to become a craftsman in anything
that you lack talent for.
Talent could maybe be defined as the ability to learn
certain things faster than the average person. But even
with talent you still have to learn them - you just can
climb the hill a bit faster.
A related isssue turned up during lunch today. I've been
recording a violinist, 80 years but going strong. Nothing
easy on the ears, but hundreds of separate single notes,
or weird chords played with different techniques, adding
well-defined sets of strong harmonics on chords, even on
sliding ones, etc. It all sounded very electronic but
wasn't. The bits and pieces are going to be used in an
electro-acoustic composition (not mine).
But the striking thing was his technique in doing this
sort of thing: the results were not random at all but
very strictly controlled and reproduceable.
Over lunch I mentioned to him that few users of software
or electronic instruments have the amount of control over
their tools that he clearly has over his violins.
His reply was very short and dry: they don't take the
time to learn it.
Ciao,
--
FA
O tu, che porte, correndo si ?
E guerra e morte !