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genetics and environment is unique to each individual. Other factors than talent considered in the paper are educational opportunity, peer influence, familial and financial support, physical and mental attributes, relative age effect, city density and location effect, and the ten-thousand-hour rule. Therefore, an individual approach to motivation in music learning is suggested. Summary conclusions include that talent does not matter as much as training and perseverance.
Byron K Graves, Andrews Academy & Ruth Murdoch Elementary School Does Practice Make Perfect? A Review of Literature on Effective Individual Practice in Music
Practice is the lifeblood of every musician, and yet it can be an exercise in futility for many students who find their practice to be an unorganized drudgery. The purpose of this literature review is to investigate what constitutes effective practice, what specific practice behaviors work most effectively, and how a current music teacher can apply those strategies in a practical setting. This paper synthesizes research from the areas of drill and practice, music psychology, expert practice and performance, music education, self-regulation, automaticity, and motivation to provide valuable insight into maximizing practice effectiveness. One major aspect of effective practice is the relationship between quantity and quality of practice. While the amount of practice is important to overall achievement, the focus should not be to simply amass practice hours. A better strategy is to the quality of practice developed over a requisite amount of time.
Another important factor in effective practice is to look at the different phases of practice. Several models have been developed, including the skill acquisition model that emphasizes the sequential nature of practice, and the self-teaching model that highlights the metacognitive aspects of practice. Practice also causes certain changes to occur, including physiological, perceptual-psychomotor, and cognitive adaptations. These effects, such as increased motor accuracy and automaticity, help the individual learn music more quickly and efficiently.
On a more practical level, many different practice strategies are available to both students and their teachers. These include both physical and cognitive strategies, such as repetition and mental practice. Music educators can also help create positive practice environments, either through supervising practice personally or by helping students structure their practice sessions. Teachers should also strive to model effective practice for their students and encourage the development of a mental learning process that will help students become independent self-teachers as they practice on their own. So then, does practice really make perfect? With few exceptions, regular practice done in a consistent and effortful way does result in a high level of performance achievement. In the pursuit of perfection through practice, the musician has a multitude of physical and cognitive strategies to utilize. But the effectiveness of strategies used in practice depends greatly on whether an individual musician uses his or her self-regulatory skills to think about the way he or she learns, make the appropriate adjustments to increase quality of practice, and continue on the path toward an excellent musical performance.
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