[crtified]

One of the great variables is the manner of practice. Every so-called virtuoso guitar player has spent thousands of hours with their hands on the instrument. But where one such celebrity may have used a 10-hour-per-day practice routine in their teens, another may instead have taken drugs then listened to music and jammed with his like-minded friends at every opportunity. Very different forms of expertise results.

Quality of practice is another factor. It's possible to become very good at doing things the wrong way, then belatedly realise that progress has been unintentionally stunted. And even that is not clear-cut. Sometimes 'the wrong way' is lauded as creative discovery, and other times simply as reduced competence.

[shermantanktop]

Many creative pursuits are compound skills, and individual skill elements must work together effectively. Many types of practice advice describe isolating one skill element to improve it, but if overdone that leads to a bad outcome, where that skill dominates and overall performance is blocked.

As a guitar player who is modestly ok at basic jazz, all the pattern-based rock stuff I spent years on is now an impediment. I have to unlearn it and approach the instrument like a beginner, but with a different intention.

So in some ways I’m reversing out of a cul de sac.

[ramenbytes]

> It's possible to become very good at doing things the wrong way, then belatedly realise that progress has been unintentionally stunted.

And sometimes when that happens, I've seen people say "I'll just stick with this way, since I think my skills would dip too much for too long while re-learning this technique the 'right' way."