Page 64 - How to Shine on Stage

the critical part, slow down the practice if necessary, and practise the
technical problem in various rhythmic patterns.
As we can see, cognitive and metacognitive strategies in instrument
practice are strongly interrelated and sometimes overlap.
In music practice, we learn some skills that build on the founda-
tion acquired through cultural influences. A child living in a certain
culture acquires musical knowledge from their broader and immediate
62 surroundings; they are able to memorize and learn certain songs, distin-
guish between different types of music, and orient themselves in a piece
of music, using key and metre. Through practice, they complement the
knowledge they have acquired from their social environment. They de-
velop and consolidate certain skills and competences, such as playing an
How to Shine on Stage tion-processing theory to examine the acquisition of some musical skills,
instrument, singing songs, and auditory analysis.
Anderson (1981; 1982, in Sloboda, 2005) has drawn on informa-

arguing that we can see an analogy between information systems and
thought processes. In his view, two important elements of practice are
the automation of certain activities, with an emphasis on procedural
knowledge, and the setting of goals.

2.1.7.1 Types of Practice
Practice can be roughly divided into physical and mental. Physical prac-
tice is a tangible activity, while mental practice is a symbolic or imagina-
tive practice with no visible movement or sound. We can also distinguish
between technical, expressive, memory, concentration, mental, and
combined practice.
As already mentioned, it has been found that in technical practice
both the quantity and the quality of practice matter. The strategies of
technical practice vary: they include practising in parts, increasing tem-
po, lengthening of temporal fragments, tempo alternation, and prac-
tice of problematic parts of a piece (Gruson, 1988; McPherson, 2022a;
2022b; Wynn Parry, 2004).
Western culture believes that the technical element can be greatly im-
proved through practice, while the expressive element is supposed to be in-
nate. However, according to research, expressiveness can also be learned,
as there exist some general rules (Meissner & Timmers, 2020; Sloboda,
2005). It is true, however, that some individuals are inherently more mu-
sically adept, with a greater capacity to convey the emotional messages of
music, while, in contrast, some musicians are so psychomotorically adept