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The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the practice strategies that collegiate music majors chose to employ in preparing for a jazz improvisation performance, and the relationships among selected practice behaviours and achievement in instrumental jazz improvisation. Participants for the study (N = 62) were enrolled as music majors at one of six universities in the USA. Expert judges assessed participants' improvisation performances, and participants' practice sessions were coded for time spent on various practice behaviours. Reliability for both achievement assessment and practice time coding was found to be high. Results indicated low, non-significant correlations between achievement scores and time spent on various practice behaviours, with participants spending the greatest amount of practice time improvising with a play-along recording. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into musical practice has over recent decades focused on the technical and organisational strategies employed by novices and experts. What has been less studied are the background factors or influences on the quality of this music practice. Drawing on interview data collected from 66 children and adults from a mixed methods project, we investigate dispositional factors involved in learning and their association with practice strategies and musical and technical outcomes. A qualitative cluster analysis of beliefs about music and learning, expressions of volition and practice strategies produced three distinctive patterns of learning that influenced technical, musical and affective outcomes for the participants. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In higher education music, individual practice remains a unique and solitary activity, perhaps the least accessible to the scrutiny of either teachers or researchers. This study reports on an investigation of the variety among student approaches to practice, with reference to year groups, age, instrumental groups and examination results. Data were collected through a questionnaire of 101 items with verbal rating scales. The interface between research and teaching and learning is seen to support reflection in the ongoing work of students, tutors and the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of practise is self-evident to instrumental teachers and parents, who will put considerable energy into ensuring that pupils work between lessons to maintain progress on their instrument. A longitudinal study at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, has been investigating the cognitive strategies used by young instrumentalists when they practise, relating this and other factors, such as environment, motivation and general ability, to the progress that is made in the first years of learning. In this paper, case studies of three of the pupils involved in that study will be used to demonstrate the range of practise strategies that children devise, and to analyse their efficiency in promoting musical development. The implications for teachers and parents will be considered, and a definition of ‘effective practise’ sought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]