A Longitudinal Study of Self-regulation in Children's Musical Practice
Abstract
This study investigates common trends and individual differences in children's practice according to six dimensions of self-regulation. Seven children, aged between 7 and 9 years at the beginning of the study, regularly videotaped their practice over a 3-year period. Behavioural coding addressed the content of practice, the nature of errors and off-task behaviours, and the interaction of family members. Low levels of self-regulatory behaviour, as evidenced in the children's ability to monitor and control their own learning, were found during practice. Learning strategies were confined almost exclusively to playing through pieces once or twice. Most errors were either ignored or corrected by repeating one or two notes. Results show that self-regulatory processes vary widely between students, even from the very early stages of musical development, and help to explain why some learners develop their performance skills quickly while others struggle. Implications for music education and future research are discussed.
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Research shows practice by oneself is not necessarily effective learning and would not lead to improvements in attained music performance.
“There is now research showing that the act of practice by oneself is not necessarily effective learning and thus would not lead to improvements in attained music performance.”
From Deliberate Practice and Proposed Limits on the Effects of Practice on the Acquisition of Expert Performance: Why the Original Definition Matters and Recommendations for Future Research (2019) · cites this paper as McPherson and Renwick, 2001
Video recordings showed children 7-9 could not recognize mistakes and played through pieces without improvements.
“Video recording of solitary practice sessions of children between 7 and 9 years of age showed that these children were not able to recognize mistakes and they simply played through the assigned music piece a few times, essentially without any improvements (McPherson and Renwick, 2001).”
From Deliberate Practice and Proposed Limits on the Effects of Practice on the Acquisition of Expert Performance: Why the Original Definition Matters and Recommendations for Future Research (2019) · cites this paper as McPherson and Renwick, 2001
Solitary practice of many beginning music students does not involve goal-directed efforts to improve performance.
“The solitary practice of many beginning music students does not involve goal-directed efforts to change (improve) their performance.”
From Deliberate Practice and Proposed Limits on the Effects of Practice on the Acquisition of Expert Performance: Why the Original Definition Matters and Recommendations for Future Research (2019) · cites this paper as McPherson and Renwick, 2001
Some students can engage in solitary practice without improvements in performance.
“Similarly, we reported evidence that some students can engage in solitary practice without improvements in performance (McPherson and Renwick, 2001)”
From Deliberate Practice and Proposed Limits on the Effects of Practice on the Acquisition of Expert Performance: Why the Original Definition Matters and Recommendations for Future Research (2019) · cites this paper as McPherson and Renwick, 2001
Cites
The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.100.3.363 · Cited by 9,564 · cited 1× · see citing works
“One of the most discussed aspects concerns deliberate practice (Ericsson et al., 1993), a term used to describe goal-oriented, structured and effortful facets of practice in which motivation, resources and attention determine the amount and quality of practice undertaken.”
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Ericsson, K. A. (2015) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000939 · Cited by 542 · see citing works
Ericsson, K. A., & Harwell, K. W. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02396 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
The development of practising strategies in young people.
Hallam, S., Rinta, T., Varvarigou, M., Creech, A., Papageorgi, I., Gomes, T., & Lanipekun, J. (2012) · Psychology of Music · doi:10.1177/0305735612443868 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
- Authors
- McPherson, G. E., & Renwick, J. M.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- ORCID
- McPherson, Gary E.
- Venue
- Music Education Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2001-09
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 169-186
- ISSN
- 1461-3808 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-9893
- OpenAlex
- W2122254987
- Cited by
- 276
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 64.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Music Education Research (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Arizona
- University of Pittsburgh
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Diverse Music Education Insights
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Keywords
- self-regulation, music learning, individual differences, learning strategies, off-task behavior, family interaction, self-monitoring, longitudinal development
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