What Do Most Great Musicians Have In Common?

I knew Duane Allman before he became great (and famous). I was at his house everyday starting at about 9:00 AM. He would have his guitar around his neck the whole time I was there. When he got up to go to the bathroom, it stayed with him. He never plugged it into an amp but just played it acoustically.

He would sit on the left side of the couch with a record player on an end table to his left. If he was listening to a solo, he would play it over and over until he got it. Duane would carry on conversations with a buddy of ours and me while playing. He practiced every day, all day long, keeping that guitar with him the entire time. He was a man obsessed. I don't know if he slept with it, but he probably did. Greg could answer that question as they shared a room, or Greg had a room next to his. Don't remember which as it has been too many years ago. Unfortunately, Greg is no longer with us.

I read in one of the books that a guy who knew him in Muscle Shoals about 2 years later, had the same observation that I had: "He had that guitar around his neck wherever he went, and he practiced constantly." I think this was during the time he was living in the cabin in the woods and playing at one of the studios in Muscle Shoals. By this time Duane had established a reputation for himself, and the guy's closing comment is telling; "So this is what it takes to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time."

Duane probably had talent that allowed him to rise above mediocrity, but I think it was the thousands and thousands of hours of practice that made him one of the top guitar players of all time.