While the primary aim of Psyc for Musos is to help musicians perform their best, teaching usually forms a large part of musicians’ lives. Performance psychology research is not only applicable to performers, but also to teachers of future musicians – so here are a few tips for teachers that this field of research can offer.
(Note: these tips are primarily aimed at teachers of young beginner/intermediate students)
1. Teach and explain exactly how to practise at home
We often tell students, “Practise these pieces this week” or “Learn these scales by next lesson”. Or we might tell students to practise for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. And maybe you were taught like that too when you were young.
The problem with these instructions is that they don’t tell the students exactly how to practise. While it’s usually expected that everyone knows what it means to “practise”, music practice is actually a very complex task: you need to set goals, have a wide variety of practice strategies that you can use, and listen to yourself and self-evaluate.1 Students who are starting out do not have the knowledge or the skills to be able to do this. So it is very important that teachers help students out with this.2–4 The role of teachers should not only be to teach technique and musicality, but also to teach effective practice.
How can you do this? Here are a few ideas:
- Consider writing out specific practice instructions (like mini tasks) for homework, rather than just listing pieces and scales. You could also get students to tick these tasks off. Make sure that the instructions contain specific tasks or goals. It can also be helpful to set sequential tasks where one task builds on the previous one. For example…
- Ask students to write down how well they think they played something to encourage them to self-evaluate. It is common for students to get into a habit of just playing through pieces without correcting their mistakes (and call it ‘practice’!).
- Monitor students’ practice. You could do this through:
- Getting students to keep a practice diary
- Getting students to show you how they practise during a lesson
- Asking students (or their parents for younger students) to record their practice at home and watch it together in a lesson
And more importantly, avoid stressing the amount of practice that a student should be doing: students will often just waste time to feel like they are practising enough (e.g. take ages to set up or fiddle with their instrument!)5
2. Ensure performance experiences are positive
Performances are a part of learning music and becoming a musician (though they can come in different shapes and forms: they do not all need to be formal exams or ‘traditional’ classical music concerts…). If we want students to feel motivated and enjoy playing, it is important that they enjoy performing.
Having negative performance experiences also increases the likelihood of experiencing performance anxiety later. For example, one study6 involving 298 high school music students found that students who reported a negative performance experience also scored higher on performance anxiety measures. Following this finding, the authors discussed the importance of:
- Ensuring that early performance experiences are positive and enjoyable
- Offering frequent, low-stress performance opportunities where students can learn to enjoy performances
- Ensuring that the repertoire is of appropriate standard for the student and that it is learnt to the “point of automaticity”6 (p458) before performance.
Consider creating informal performance opportunities for students in relaxed and safe environments. Practising to perform is an effective way to learn to manage ‘nerves’ and get comfortable with performing. If the only time that students perform is in their exams, you can’t expect them to fall in love with performing!
3. Allow students to choose their own pieces
A few decades ago, a group of researchers2,5,7 followed a cohort of primary school students in Australia who started learning an instrument, to study their musical development. In a case study of one student,8 they found that the student’s practice was remarkedly different when it was a piece she chose herself, as opposed pieces that were assigned by her teacher. She practised her self-chosen piece 12 times more than the other pieces (measured in duration per note to account for differences in length of pieces). Not only did she practise more, she also engaged in quality practice strategies that are rarely displayed by beginners. In a nutshell, she practised longer and more effectively when it was a piece she liked and chose herself.
Allowing students to choose their own repertoire has two major advantages: 1) it lets them choose pieces that they like; and 2) it gives them a sense of autonomy, because they are choosing what to play, rather being told by someone else. Intrinsic interest and feelings of autonomy both play an important role in motivation.9
Of course, this is not always practical – you have to make sure that the piece is suitable for the student (i.e. not too difficult), and if there are specific repertoire requirements (e.g. exams) you need to follow those. But considering the students’ preferences and giving them a sense of autonomy as much as possible can be an effective way to foster good practice.
In summary:
- Explain exactly how to practise at home
- Periodically check how your students are practising at home
- Provide frequent, informal performance opportunities so that students can get used to performing and see it as an enjoyable activity
- Ensure that students are well-prepared for performances
- Allow students to choose their pieces where possible…or at least try to ensure that your students like their pieces or give them a sense of autonomy by giving them options to choose from.
There will be more teaching tips in the future so stay tuned!
References