MYTH 1

The answer to seeing more progress is putting in more time

• First off, if you want to see results, you have to put in time. I am the world's #1 proponent and
supporter of consistent and regular practice. This will look different for each person based upon
your goals for your music.
• The structure of the time you put in is much more important than the amount of time you put in
• A focused 30 minute practice session can yield 10x the results of an unfocused 4 hour session
• Studies done on elite performers in music, athletics, and other performance based fields have
shown that the elite don't necessarily practice more...they practice differently.
• A practice ritual is the key to focused, productive, and satisfying practice sessions (and that's
what this whole free series is all about...more about that tomorrow!)
• You must practice your instrument regularly and put in the time to improve, but it's the quality
of that time that matters most, not the quantity

“If you practice with your fingers, no amount is enough, but if you practice with your head, two hours
is plenty.”
-Leopold Auer
Renowned Violin Teacher
Speaking to an adult professional student

MYTH 2
You're either born with talent or not

• This is a completely outdated mindset and thinking. What if you were born in the 1800's and
your natural talent was writing video game code?!?! You would be out of luck with this line of
thinking! The fact is, there is NO emperical evidence that supports this claim. Zero. Nada.
 Zilch. Recent extensive studies (the last 30 years to be exact) on the brain, elite performers, and
how humans learn in general have completely disproved the idea that an individual is born with
a pre-programmed set of skills (i.e. “natural talent”). The only exception being physical traits
(height, body type, etc.). I have tons of studies and facts to back this up that I can't wait to tell
you about!
• Because of recent studies done on the brain and how it works, we now know that anyone can
learn a new skill if practiced in the correct way.
• Those studies have also shown that the brain maintains plasticity throughout life, allowing you
the ability to learn new skills even into old age (No, you're never too old to learn a new trick!).
• The difference between elite performers and “everyone else” is not “natural talent” but rather
processing speed. How fast they react, ability to see ahead, etc. All of this can be learned for
any skill through deliberate practice. I'm getting ahead of myself though...more on all of this
soon!

“The differences between expert performers and normal adults are not immutable, that is, due to
genetically prescribed talent. Instead, these differences reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to
improve performance.”
-K. Anders Ericsson
Swedish psychologist, Expert researcher in the psychological nature of expertise & human performance

MYTH 3
Focusing on more content in your practice time leads to greater
results

• We live in an information overload society. More, more, more...all of the time. It's exhausting.
The problem with applying this in our practice time is that we suffer from something I call
“practice guilt”. You know the feeling...“I need to move on because there's so much to get to!”.
You begin to feel “guilty” for spending too much time on one topic when there is so much to
learn. So we leave material half-learned and we never see it show up in our playing. This is one
of the biggest issues I discuss on a daily basis with my students. Less material at a focused,
 deeper level is the way to true progress.
• You have to practice like Bruce Lee (see quote below). Be the Bruce!!!
• Using simple tools like Practice Killer elimination scheduling (I talk all about that one...it's
killer, pun intended) and Goal Generators (yep, gonna talk about that one as well in the next
few days), we can begin to see where we need to improve. Once we've done this we are able to
set goals...long term, short term, and immediate that will lead us to success in our practice
times.
• In any field, there are several big picture (but extremely deep) topics that need to be focused on
with each exercise. In music, I like to call these the “Big 7”. Once you learn them and begin to
apply them to each exercise, your progress will be unstoppable! What are the Big 7? Don't
worry, it's all in this lesson series. Check your inbox tomorrow for the first free video lesson.

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one
kick 10,000 times.”
-Bruce Lee
Master Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher, Founder of Jeet Kune Do, Cultural Icon

MYTH 4
Practicing is the only thing that will help me see success with my
instrument

• Let's get this straight...without practice you will never see improvement in your playing. That
being said, the things you do outside of your practice time have just as much to do with your
success as the things you do in your practice time. This seems counter intuitive, which is why I
go in depth on this in this free lesson series.
• There has to be a healthy balance between your practice time and the rest of your life. Your
practice time should help you enjoy the rest of life and life should help you enjoy and succeed
in your practice time.
• Studies have shown that elite performers spend 2-3x more time sleeping and spend just as much
time every day engaged in “recreational activities” as they do practice (and recreational
 activities go up to double the amount of time as practicing on the weekends).
• So what are the most important elements outside of practice that contribute to a successful
practice time? Glad you asked! Plenty of sleep (the mind does amazing things and processes
TONS of information from your day while you sleep), a healthy diet, not abusing substances
(alcohol, etc.), and generous amounts of recreational activity (i.e. do other stuff you like doing
besides practicing!). All of these activities allow your body to recover from the practice session,
process information, and grow. More on this later!
• The amount of time you will be able to practice is not dictated by the amount of available time
you have to practice, but by how long it takes you to recover from your last deliberate practice
session (paraphrase from “The Role of Deliberate Practice In The Acquisition of Expert
Performance”, K. Anders Ericsson)

“I don't believe in draining the reservoir, do you see? I believe in getting up from the typewriter , away
from it, while I still have things to say.”
-Henry Miller
American Writer

MYTH 5
A predictable practice routine will lead to a lack of creativity and a
boring practice time

• Michael Phelps (most decorated Olympian in history) has had the same pre-race routine for
over 10 years.
• Stephen Curry is famous for his consistent and unchanging warm up routine
• Miles Davis would practice the same set of chord changes or song for years.
• By putting together a consistent practice ritual, we free our minds to work on other problems.
Instead of thinking “what should I be doing”, we begin to explore and create. All of this is
brought about through the routine. Routine allows exploration and creativity to emerge.
• This is no different than having rules in any game. The rules never change...but the real genius
comes through the ability of the participants to react, create, and amaze within those rules.
 • Using tools such as Zoning, Creative Assembly Lines, Feedback Loops, and Goal Generators
we can turn our practice time into a creativity factory! I will go in depth on all of these topics
over the next few days.

“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition...A modern stoic knows that the surest way to
discipline passion is to discipline time: decide what you want or ought to do during the day, then
always do it at exactly the same moment every day, and passion will give you no trouble.”
-W.H. Auden
English-American Poet

This whole PDF of myth busters is simply meant as a quick mental “cheat sheet” to get you prepared
for the rest of this lesson series. In the next couple of days I will be sending you a set of free video
lessons that will help you make sense of all of the information in this PDF as well as begin to see how
you can create a focused and productive practice routine that is guaranteed to help you see results.
Don't worry, I've helped thousands of musicians around the world improve their practice times and see
the results they want. Check your inbox tomorrow morning for the first video lesson!

Talk to you soon!

Stephen Taylor