Whether tossing a baseball, flipping through multiplication tables on note cards or plucking cords on a guitar, conventional logic dictates that practice makes perfect, however, new research reveals that there is far more to becoming proficient than simple repetition.
Zach Hambrick, an associate professor of psychology at MSU has been studying the role of practice for 15 years and said it alone cannot make someone a master.
“No one denies that you have to practice to become an expert,” Hambrick said. However, according to Hambrick’s research, practice may only account for a third of what contributes to success in a given field.
Hambrick’s research began in November of 2011 and involved reevaluating 14 previous studies, which examined the role of practice in helping chess players and musicians to reach a higher plain.
He said factors including cognitive ability and beginning age play a vital role in achieving success.
He also said individuals looking to achieve mastery in a given area should look to their innate areas of knowledge. Those well versed in verbal cognition would find success in the humanities and those strong in mathematics would find satisfaction in sciences, he said.
In much the same way as children pick up languages more easily at an early age, Hambrick’s research indicates there may be a critical period of time where subjects are able to pick up essential skills more rapidly.
Philosophy senior Spencer Perrenoud wishes his parents would have pushed music on him at a much younger age.
“If my parents had made me sit down and take lessons at an early age I think the music would have been in my bones,” he said.
A bass guitar, piano and ukulele player, Perrenoud said his current regiment of practice of a few hours a week helps him to maintain his skill, and that he believes he could become better with more practice. However, he is unsure of the possible benefits of practice alone.
Deborah Moriarty, the chair of the piano section at MSU-, said there are several factors to consider in becoming a successful musician.
“Practice is important, but it is not the only factor to consider,” Moriarty said.
Things like talent and access to musical instruments at an early age factor into skill level. However Moriarty, who began playing the piano at the age of three, contends that anyone can find joy in music.
“I think that it is important to note that while you need all of the factors to become a professional musician, anyone can still learn an instrument, and with practice can get satisfaction from learning an instrument,” she said.
With funding for arts and music programs falling in favor of science and mathematics, Moriarty believes children are missing an opportunity to learn more about music.
“Music is a language and not giving children access to learn is a serious problem.”
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