练习是痛苦的丶孤独的。但是除此之外，别无捷径。最近英国《每日邮报》报道，科学家计算到一条成为演奏天才的 方程式：就是一点点的天分，一点点的运气，再加「不少於一万小时的练习」。德国的柏林音乐学院向一批都是五岁开始学习小提琴，而现年为二十岁的学生进行了 一项研究，研究发现，要成为好的演奏者，抑或非常出色的演奏者，分别就在於练习时间。好的演奏者，平均已经练习了八千小时。而他们当中最出色的演奏者，则 练习了超过一万小时。英国的神经病学家Daniel Levitin认为，人的脑部的确需要这麽长的时间去理解和吸收一种知识或者技能，然後才能达到大师级的水准。《每日邮报》还引述The Story of Success的作者Malcolm Gladwell在书中提到「练习就是披头四（The Beatles）的成功之道」。因为披头四在早期夹band的日子里，一星期七天，每天都练习八小时，从不间断。在他们大红的时候，他们一共表演了一千二 百场，比大部分乐队都表演得多。所以天才是百分之一的天分，加上百分之九十九的汗水。

　 　钢琴家郎朗在接受英国《衞报》访问时说：「没有人会真的喜欢练习，我也不例外（现在他每日练习二至三小时）。只是，我不讨厌练习。我会尝试在练习当中找 一些新的乐趣。这对我很有帮助，因为感觉上不像是别人在逼你，而是你自己想从中得到一些启发。」据估计，目前中国约有三千六百万名年轻钢琴学生，当这些学 生的父母得知郎朗在小时候被父亲强迫日练九小时钢琴，这立即成为他们创造第二个郎朗的金科玉律。

You too can be a genius (if you can spare 10,000 hours)

They say that genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.

Now scientists claim they know just how much sweat and toil this actually is.

It takes someone 10,000 hours of practice to reach the top in their chosen discipline, they say.

Studies suggest that top sportsmen, musicians and chess players have all put in this amount of graft.

Studies show that top musicians like Nigel Kennedy have all put in at least 10,000 hours of graft to be a leader in their field

Talent and luck are important, but it is practice that makes the difference between being good and being brilliant, say the researchers.

A study at Berlin's Academy of Music looked at violin students who started playing at around the age of five, practising for two or three hours a week. As they grew older the amount of practice increased.

By the age of 20, the elite performers had each totalled 10,000 hours of practice, while the merely good students had accrued 8,000.

Of the 10,000 figure, neurologist Daniel Levitin told BBC science magazine Focus: 'It seems it takes the brain this long to assimilate all it needs to know to achieve true mastery.'

Extracts from Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success published in Focus describe practice as being the key to The Beatles' success.

In their early career the Fab Four would play eight hours a night, seven days a week while in Hamburg.