Tougas-Coyle-Ch1-2

This book is fascinating! I have always been a massive nerd for this kind of scientific reasoning behind music! The chapters cover deep-practice and how this process creates myelin- a cell production that encases the things we learn so that they become neurological embedded into who we are and our ‘talent’. I put ‘talent’ in quotations because while reading I came upon a personal question of, “You mean I could have been a LeBron James or an Einstein? Being quote-on-quote ‘born with talent’ is an old wives tale?” 

Essentially, the answer is more yes than no. 

The answer really is found throughout the entire two chapters- Coyle does this by citing many different forms/examples of deep-practice from a type of soccer called futsal all the way to dank recording studios in the middle of no-where towns- but he really highlights the exact answer in the end of chapter two when mention Anders Ericsson. Ericsson discovered this formula that through using myelin: deep practice x 10,000 hours = world-class skill and this desire to deep practice emerges at very young ages.

 So the answer to my question was this: Being born with innate talent? Yes, however, the ability to become the Renee Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti’s of the world comes from an innate desire to become and practice not necessarily hard, but deep. Get messy and make mistakes! 

Lastly, I love this quote: “The truth is, practice makes myelin, and myelin makes perfect.” The concept of myelin is a huge change in my perspective on how I practice! I feel as though I would review sections until I felt frustrated or tired with it and inevitably give up at times and go over the whole song again. Instead of starting the whole process over by doing this, I will get messy with my music and allow things to bake in a little longer, even if it means going over the same section over and over till it’s black and blue. Wrap that myelin all around it! 

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