A Digital Application for Structural Practice Management

2. Organisation of study sessions

Spaced repetition

As mentioned before, connections in the brain are strengthened by repetition. But to make sure these connections stay we need to use ‘spaced repetition’. Research has shown that spacing out your repetitions of something over several days of weeks will stick much better than doing the same amount of work in one go. By making use of spaced repetition, you give your brain the opportunity to move the concept you are working on from the working memory to your long-term memory.1

However, to get the idea or concept to indeed move to the long-term memory, besides repeated it should be memorable. Other wise the connections will already quickly fade away. Furthermore, by extending the space between repetitions gradually over the days the material will become more firmly embedded in your brain.2

Formal practice

There are multiple theories on practice, and the conditions for this practice to be of high quality. Firstly, there is the theory on deliberate practice by Anders Ericsson, in which he describes the following three factors of studying, that are needed for practice on the road to mastery:

  1. That it’s a specific type of work
  2. Use of strategy
  3. Involves goal setting

Secondly, there is the theory on self-regulated practice by Barry Zimmerman. Self-regulation involves organising and arranging thoughts, feelings and actions in order to reach goals. He suggests that there are the following three components to self-regulated practice:

  1. Forethought and planning before playing
  2. Self-control and self-awareness during playing
  3. Reflection and evaluation after playing

Arielle Bonneville-Roussy and Thérèse Bouffard combine these two theories into that of Formal practice, showing a positive correlation between using formal practice and musical achievement. Formal practice consists of:

  1. Goal direction
  2. Focused attention
  3. Self-regulated strategies
  4. Deliberate practice strategies3

Goals and planning

Goals are an important part of deliberate practice. Setting intelligent goals has multiple benefits, it helps with all three stages of practice (before, during and after); it provides a starting point for your planning, which then helps with directing your practice, and afterwards it makes it easier to evaluate. It also promotes focus and concentration. It is helpful to set goals for different timespans: short, medium, and long-term goals.4

Related to this, having a task list can be extremely helpful for organisation. Oakley suggests writing a weekly task list as well as a daily task list. Suggested is to make the daily task list the evening before, since research has shown that this helps your subconscious to grapple with the tasks while you sleep, making it easier to take them on the next day. Without a task list, the various tasks will clog up your four slots of your working memory, making it harder to concentrate on your current task. However, it is important that you trust yourself to check the task list, or the tasks will again come up, blocking your working memory.5

3. Effectiveness in learning music >
  1. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 43.
  2. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 172-174.
  3. Williams, “Quality Practice”, 18-19.
  4. Williams, “Quality Practice”, 32-33.
  5. Oakley, “A Mind for Numbers”, 130-131.