27/02/2019
Deliberate practice, Part 1
Now we know that musical performance is not based on "talent"(whatever that is), IQ or even experience (read previous 3 posts for more info). So, what really leads to exceptional performance ability?
In a study at a conservatory in Berlin, Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) examined the practice habits of high achievers, likely to win an audition for a prestigious orchestra position, medium achievers, likely to play professionally but in a regional orchestra, and low achievers, who were focused on becoming music teachers rather than performers.
They discovered that the members of the top two groups practiced alone for about 3.5 hours per day. The low achievers practiced about 1.3 hours per day. The results, then, are, perhaps, predictable: more practice enabled greater skills. Bit what about the differences between the top two groups? How is it that they practiced about the same amount yet some made more progress?
Notice that all of these hour totals were averages. Some of the high achievers had practiced considerably less than 3.5 hours per day and some of the medium achievers had practiced as much as the high achievers had.
While the amount of practice is a major determinant of achievement, the manner of practice is just as important. And these researchers figured out what the high-achieving students were doing differently. To describe it, they coined the phrase deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice has 5 essentially components:
1. It's designed to improve performance;
2. It can be repeated a lot;
3. Feedback on results is constantly available;
4. It's highly demanding mentally; and,
5. While it can be satisfying, it isn't much fun.
An orientation to musical pedagogy. - Birch Browning
Later we'll talk about each of these components.
