[mikestew]

This is bad advice for people wanting to learn a musical instrument

This is amazingly good advice for those learning their first musical instrument. Because casual observation tells me that nearly no one spends that kind of time on an instrument starting out. If one spends 45 minutes a day practicing (not noodling) on an instrument for a month, I don’t think sounding reasonably decent on a tiny set of tunes can be avoided. Rhonda Vincent won’t be inviting you on stage for a mandolin duet, but you won’t embarrass yourself in front of friends.

Now, getting good? Well, yeah, that’s going to be that same 45 minutes a day for the next ten years. But after twenty hours I think one would earn the right to call themselves a mandolin player.