In the TEDx talk "The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything" by the author Josh Kaufman, Kaufman explains that to learn a new skill, we don't need to spend 10 000 hours as we might have previously heard. This is a misunderstanding as the 10 000 hour rule only applies if you'd like to reach the skill level of the world's finest professionals.

Kaufman proposes that we simply need to spend 20 hours to reach a reasonably good level of proficiency (the purple section, from A to B). 

I took up this challenge to spend 20 hours learning to play the recorder, because I have never done anything musical and I wanted to diversify and learn something in a completely new field. The recorder was an instrument I already had at home, so it felt natural to start with.

- Formulate a goal and deconstruct the skill 

- Learn just enough to self-correct 

- Remove practice barriers and distractions

- Commit to and practice at least 20 hours

I spent 2 hours a day for 10 days learning sheet music and the facets of playing the recorder. A link to my notes on the process is linked here. After each day I also did an audio recording. See below the snippets of the first day, fifth day and tenth day:

10th day: The song 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion (Beginners Version)

The final recording is not perfect. I still struggled with timing a bit, hitting the low C note properly, proper articulation for this specific piece and correct breath pressure. It still needs refinement but this is how far I got with 20 hours as a complete beginner to music.

The goal, according to Josh Kaufman is to learn enough to be able to self correct and I am happy that I achieved that as I have an awareness of what I can still improve on in
my final piece.

Using all the information gathered, I decided to make an infographic on the way to plan and structure music practice time as I felt that was the key and foundation of becoming a good recorder player.

For me the most confusing thing was deciding how to practice. Do I do exercises, do I just find songs and play through them? How long am I supposed to be warming up for? Do I still warm up if I only have 20 minutes to practice? Is 20 minutes enough? How do I know that I am improving my skill during practice? Are there specific exercises to practice when I am trouble shooting and struggling with co-ordination? etc.

So my target audience for my infographic are recorder player beginners who have some knowledge of music terminology and who need help in planning out and structuring their music practice time. 

Rig Solid Bold Fill for the main header matched the illustration style well and added some visual interest. Arial Rounded MT Bold was used within the icon design as it fitted well with the rounded strokes used in the illustration.

Astoria Sans was used for sub-headers and body copy as it had a medium width of letters, was easy to read, had a large font family for versatility and had a double tiered, lower case 'a' and 'g' which I thought was a tiny detail that made the font feel a bit reminiscent of older age but it being part of a sans serif still kept the modern look and feel for the most part. 

Historically, the recorder was a symbol of high status and wealth back in the Baroque era. The colour purple has a similar history as only royalty wore purple since it was the most difficult colour to dye fabric. I felt a purple spot colour was more fitting for my infographic as it also felt calming, to suit the melodious sound of a recorder and the feeling I felt when learning to play.

Through this experience I learnt the value of 20 hours. Try it out, what will you be doing with your 20 hours?