The Talent Code

As a hard-core-Suzuki-violin-mother of four violinists, I came across this title at a Summer Suzuki Institute camp.  Both of the teacher trainers talked about this title to the parents.  I thought, hum... I need to see the book for myself.  I bought a copy and read it a year ago.  This last year our practicing has gone to a whole new level of deep and effective practicing.  I may dare even say that my children made more progress in this last year, than the did in the 3 years prior of practicing.  I began video recording our teachers' (Suzuki and Fiddle) lessons.  We studied every sound and every gesture that our music mentors made.  My children started to study the very Essence of what made their teachers so great.  It worked. They are playing more beautifully than ever.  This book  is a fascinating read that can help you with any Talent you want to develop.  Enjoy some of my favorite quotes.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. —W. B. Yeats” 

“The sweet spot: that productive, uncomfortable terrain located just beyond our current abilities, where our reach exceeds our grasp. Deep practice is not simply about struggling; it's about seeking a particular struggle, which involves a cycle of distinct actions.” 

“According to a 1995 study, a sample of Japanese eighth graders spent 44 percent of their class time inventing, thinking, and actively struggling with underlying concepts. The study's sample of American students, on the other hand, spent less than 1 percent of their time in that state. “The Japanese want their kids to struggle,” said Jim Stigler, the UCLA professor who oversaw the study and who cowrote The Teaching Gap with James Hiebert. “Sometimes the [Japanese] teacher will purposely give the wrong answer so the kids can grapple with the theory. American teachers, though, worked like waiters. Whenever there was a struggle, they wanted to move past it, make sure the class kept gliding along. But you don't learn by gliding.” 

“Although talent feels and looks predestined, in fact we have a good deal of control over what skills we develop, and we have more potential than we might ever presume to guess.” 

― Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else