Page 73 - How to Shine on Stage

found that the formers’ amount of cumulative practice reached 7,600 hours
by the time they reached the age of 18, while the latters’ amount of cumu-
lative practice reached 1,600 hours in that time. In addition, the research
has also revealed that top musicians also invest more time in informal prac-
tice (musical notation practice arising from their internal motivation (inter-
est, satisfaction)) (Ericsson et al., 1993, in Sloboda, 2005).
The most important predictors of the level of musical expertise
achieved are the amount of time spent learning an instrument/singing
and the amount of practice (Hallam, 2013). Parents have a major impact 71
on primary music school learners’ practice, reminding their children
to practise (65%) and helping them practise (47%), thereby motivating
them (Davidson et al., 1996; Hallam, 2013).
Dedicated practice is estimated to explain only 30% of the variance
in performance ability, with 70% explained by other factors (Hambrick
et al., 2014). Similar trends were confirmed in a study by Arielle Bon-
neville-Roussy and Thérèse Bouffard (2015), where formal practice ex-
plained only 18% of musical achievement in students of music. Factors
that emerged as more important predictors of musical achievement were
self-image, perfectionism, and performance anxiety, as well as parental Indirect Factors of Musical Performance Success
and teacher influences.

2.1.7.3 Quality of Practice
Whereas music practice research first focused on the amount of prac-
tice time needed to develop musical expertise, the research later shifted
its focus to the quality of the practice. A number of studies have demon-
strated that the quality of practice is a more important predictor of mu-
sical performance success than the duration of practice (Zhukov, 2021).
Austin and Margaret Haefner Berg (2006) have found that motivation to
practise also depends on the pleasantness and calmness of the practice
environment. Furthermore, Duke et al. (2009) have confirmed that per-
formance quality is more dependent on the practice strategies than on
the scope and duration of the practice. Research on practice strategies
suggest that most learners in primary music school employ very basic
practice strategies (Austin and Berg, 2006; Hallam, 2013; Leon-Guer-
rero, 2008; Miksza, 2012). These findings reveal a relatively low level of
self-regulation in primary music school learners (to approximately 14 or
15 years of age). Curiously, it appears that neither university students ap-
proach practice as strategically as they could (Miksza and Tan, 2015):
their prevailing strategies remain playing slowly, gradually increasing
the tempo, and practising in parts. Siw Graabraek Nielsen (2008) found