I see this phrase again and again. I guess it’s not entirely wrong, maybe, but taken the wrong way, as things always are today, it results in some wrong thinking.
Here’s what a random jive web site says about the phrase:
The “Practice Makes Permanent” Principle
The practice makes permanent principle is the idea that you need to repeat an action many times for it to become a habit. This principle applies to both helpful and harmful habits. When it comes to habit formation techniques, repeating the desired behavior is essential. The more you do something, the more likely it is to become a habit. And once it becomes a habit, it will be much easier to maintain.
In other words, we formed yet another little crapperware theory of self improvement and slapped a tenuously-connected catch phrase on it. On the first day of Grifting 101 they tell you:
- Lazily form a jive but plausible-sounding principle of whatever. Get some slop science about “neural pathways” in there.
- Slap a catchphrase on it.
- PROFIT
And in fact, googling the phrase, everything that comes up is either sports related, or vaguely “manosphere” related, or is blatant self-improvement/productivity grifting. Try it, scroll through, it’s comical.
It’s a major trend among enthusiasts, and sort of lower mid-level teachers, today; how fearful they are of ingraining bad habits. They’re big believers in the power of habits, and of ingraining things. Not big believers in mindfulness, purpose, or decision, and less than thrilled about agency in general, to be honest. They want to automate, they’re looking for the problem to be taken out of their hands. “Teach the mechanism”, says some other motivation slop site. Make me a robot.
…actually, that last thing has something to do with chemistry, but it’s too perfect, it’s essentially what they’re talking about.
Absorbing this mentality— of the catchphrase, at least— people become phobic of not doing things 100% correctly from the beginning, for fear of breaking themselves forever. And, obviously, it’s not always practical to have everything 100% perfect from the beginning, even if you knew what 100% perfect was. That ultimately induces a state of paralysis— which actually their second most favored state— until they eventually find refuge in the sugary world of gear acquisition and photographs of drum sets. Venture beyond this site sometime, and you see all of the stages of this phenomenon everywhere.
I don’t know what it is. People are drawn to plunge themselves into impossibly stupid problems. I had one person approach me, having decided that he was going to learn to play by going through Gary Chaffee’s Patterns books, cover to cover, starting on page 1. That’s how he decided it should go. It was an impossibly stupid idea, and it never happened for him, it wouldn’t have happened even if he followed through.
It is possible to fix things. You can be not real good at something and then get better at it— or you can do something good enough to go with it for one part of your playing life, then really work on it seriously later. It’s kind of necessary to do that, you can’t be worrying about every aspect of musicianship all the time, as an inexperienced player. It’s a secret principle I call prioritizing. It’s a teacher’s job to show you how to do that in a productive way, to help you find the good enough to go with it way to proceed.
When I said this phrase, “practice makes permanent”, might not be entirely wrong, I thought they had something more substantive in mind with the permanent aspect— because to some extent, some abilities do stick around once you learn them. Some more than others. I could stop practicing now and still be able do fine playing most gigs. I can not practice a Bach piece on the piano for a couple of weeks, it doesn’t go away completely. But none of that is what they’re talking about, which is about forming a “habit of excellence” or some such nonsense, which they somehow equate to permanent. I guess figuring people will be too lazy to stop being great, I don’t know.
So it’s a pure slop concept— there’s nothing to interpret correctly, or misinterpret. Discount it entirely, and don’t say it. Old Vince Lombardi’s line of “perfect practice makes perfect” is closer to reality, and safer, since it’s so familiar people don’t even hear it any more, to take it seriously. Still, the “perfect” aspect is not helpful.
Better is this neanderthal phrasing, “good unstupid practice makes good”, except it doesn’t fulfill the basic need of these phrases, to make people feel they have some magic secret to improvement… taking us to where we really should be, to not doing our work based on a stupid slogan. We know what we’re supposed to be doing, let’s do that.
I am happy to help you with any of the materials on the site, and with anything else drumming related— contact me for private lessons, online world wide, or in person in Portland, Oregon. All levels of players, and all people, are welcome.
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