Music : Gift vs Work
This is something I’ve been pondering for the past few weeks. I read in a new drum book that I just bought that Albert Einstein said “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. That quote has really been resounding to true to me. I’ll be honest and tell you that I didn’t burst forth from the womb and onto a set of drums. My parents are not expert musicians, though my Dad has become quite a sax player in the last few years. I didn’t really even get serious about my playing snare drum until sometime late in middle school, and didn’t have a drum kit that I could play until 8th grade or so. 20 years later I am an avid student of the drum kit, I play professionally in Nashville as a touring and a session musician. So what happened you ask? About 10,000 hours of practice :)
Seriously. I absolutely believe that God gave me a gift. I have always heard music for more than it is on a surface level. I started picking songs apart and learning to play CD’s when I was just a kid. I remember listening to Smooth Criminal for hours on a toy record player in my room when I was a kid. I also showed really early signs of great hand eye coordination. So yeah, I was definitely given gifts, but I’d argue the the best gift I ever got was the ability to learn. I’ve simply applied the skill to the drums and it’s taken me a really long way. I have the ability to learn and retain a great deal of drumming information in a given practice session. I also drive myself working 3-5 hours a day still on my musicianship. But the actual gift of drumming, I am not sure that exists, or if it does, you can look at me and know you can do anything you put your mind to.
From a Christian perspective, I’ve read many articles on talent. I’ve come to the conclusion that talent is about 10% a gift you were given, 70% work, and 20% drive and perseverance. You don’t honor God with the gift itself, you honor him by what you do with that gift. Robert Shuller is quoted as saying “what you are is Gods gift to you, what you do with it is your gift to God.” I know many musicians that don’t practice, and many non practicing drummers that I can definitely learn a lot from, but in the end, I think I was given a set of gifts, and the way I honor God through that is to work on them until I feel accomplished. So basically, I’ll be working on them as long as I have breath.
Work hard. Practice hard. Play hard. Do it all with a joyous heart and many amazing things will happen for you. But it’s up to you to grab the reins and do the work because nobody is going to do it for you. There is nothing that can replace a solid practice routine if you really want to become a professional at any skill.