Practice habits and motivation: A qualitative descriptive study of graduate instrumentalists

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine graduate instrumentalists’ practice habits, motivation orientations, and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their instrumental practice. Data were collected for this qualitative descriptive study through four participants’ videotaped practice recordings (N = 4), video-stimulated recall (n = 4), semi-structured interviews (n = 4), and a questionnaire (n = 4) about practice strategies adopted and motivation orientations. Four themes were emergent including (a) task-oriented practice routines, (b) solution-oriented approaches, (c) mixed motivations, and (d) challenges faced during COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted graduate instrumentalists’ practice progress and psychological state. Their experience could be a reference for other instrumentalists in applying effective practice strategies and achieving strong and independent musicianship. The findings of this study also suggested that instrumental instructors may consider encouraging their students to flexibly plan practice routines and give priority to short-term goals.

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic extrinsic motivation graduate instrumentalists intrinsic motivation practice routines practice strategies

To succeed professionally, musicians must learn various practice strategies and remain motivated when practicing their instrument. Although time spent in practice may distinguish the expertise level of musicians (Ericsson et al., 1993; Jørgensen, 2002), the adoption of effective practice strategies such as repetition (Graaff, 2014; Miksza, 2006a), analytic strategies (Duke et al., 2009), using a metronome and listening to model recordings (Geringer et al., 2015), and self-regulation skills (Araújo, 2016; Nielsen, 2001) are essential for performance achievement. Additionally, motivation orientations play an important role in the persistence of instrumental learning. Musicians who exhibited intrinsic motivation reported more enjoyment and interest in instrumental learning than those musicians who demonstrated extrinsic motivation (Diaz, 2010; Yoo, 2021). It is evident that advanced musicians’ expertise development involves the use of effective practice strategies, an organized practice routine, and personal motivation.

Although repetition has been reported as the most common practice strategy used by musicians (Austin & Berg, 2006; Byo & Cassidy, 2008), merely playing through music from beginning to end without stopping while practicing has been identified as an ineffective practice strategy (Hallam et al., 2012). For example, middle school band students were inclined to adopt playing through music exercises repeatedly as a primary strategy (Prichard, 2017, 2020; Rohwer & Polk, 2006). However, collegiate musicians applied repetition in small sections and through whole-part-whole practice (Miksza, 2006b). Professional musicians repeated small sections interspersed with longer passages (Chaffin & Imreh, 2001). Given accumulated instrumental practice experiences, musicians seem aware of the necessity of combining repetition with other practice skills for improving practice efficiency.

The frequency of applying analytic practice strategies (e.g. pinpointing errors, identifying difficult sections) has been associated with musicians’ performance achievement. Although pre-college musicians were less likely to apply analytic practice strategies while practicing (Hallam et al., 2012), advanced musicians tended to isolate challenging sections and analyze repertoire while learning (Nielsen, 1999). Duke et al. (2009) observed and ranked collegiate pianists’ accuracy of practicing a difficult passage at a prescribed tempo. They found that top-ranked pianists were more likely to pinpoint and isolate errors and systematically vary tempos to achieve goals in the practice session than the lower-ranked participants. In sum, instrumental teachers should provide instruction regarding the application of analytic strategies because they can help musicians listen critically, monitor thoughts and behaviors, and facilitate practice efficiency (Hamlin, 2014).

Applying practice tools such as a metronome and tuner have been recommended for students’ instrumental practice. Geringer et al. (2015) found that middle and high school string musicians in advanced ensembles reported using a metronome and listening to recordings more often than players from lower-level ensembles. However, engraining these behaviors in students’ practice may require teachers’ help. Compared with students who have no instruction from instrumental teachers, middle school musicians were more likely to use a metronome and tuner after receiving 3 weeks of systematic instruction from teachers (Prichard, 2020). Considering that using practice tools may facilitate practice progress, music teachers and students should consider their use in daily practice.

Musicians often apply self-regulation skills in practice sessions (Bonneville-Roussy & Bouffard, 2015; Nielsen, 2001). Common self-regulated behaviors include goal setting, metacognitive thinking (i.e. structure, monitor, and revise practice plans toward specific performance goals), planning and time management, self-evaluation, and help-seeking (Austin & Berg, 2006; Hallam, 2001; Miksza, 2006a). However, these behaviors were seldom used by beginning musicians in practice (McPherson & Renwick, 2001). In contrast, advanced musicians demonstrated various self-regulation skills. For example, Nielsen (2001) observed practice sessions of two accomplished organists with a high level of technical skill. Findings indicated that they adopted extensive self-regulation skills such as setting specific goals, engaging in strategic planning, using self-instruction, and monitoring and evaluating self-progress during practice. As expertise develops, musicians gradually master extensive self-regulation skills and apply these skills based on individual needs.

Motivation orientations influence musicians’ persistence of instrumental learning and musicianship development. Compared with intrinsic motivation driven by determinants such as interests and enjoyment, extrinsic motivation is driven by external rewards including grades and praise (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Researchers found that passion and enjoyment were the main reasons why students continued music participation (Yoo, 2021). Schmidt (2005) identified that middle and high school musicians’ performance achievement was positively correlated with their intrinsic motivation. Collegiate musicians’ responses indicated that they were more inclined to exhibit intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation in ensemble learning contexts (Diaz, 2010). However, professional musicians exhibited extrinsic, intrinsic, and mixed motivation orientations toward instrumental practice (Hallam, 1995). Given these findings, instrumental teachers may consider enhancing students’ intrinsic motivation by developing their initiative in music selections (Sandene, 1997) and assisting students in setting challenging but attainable goals (Wiseman & Hunt, 2008) to continue their learning interests.

Previous research focused on musicians’ practice habits including time spent in practice (Ericsson et al., 1993; Jørgensen, 2002) and the application of technical skills (Araújo, 2016; Austin & Berg, 2006; Hallam et al., 2012). However, there have been few investigations relating to the organization of collegiate musicians’ practice routines (Byo & Cassidy, 2008) and motivation orientations (Diaz, 2010). Given that these variables are associated with expertise development, it seems important to explore graduate instrumentalists who exhibit solid musicianship and technical skills. Findings from the current study will help other musicians learn from their successful organization of practice routine and effective practice strategies used in individual practice sessions. Additionally, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in spring 2020, schools switched to remote learning with limited resources, which created many challenges for music teaching and learning (Hash, 2021; Savage, 2021). Results of this study will inform studio instructors how COVID-19 pandemic affected graduate instrumentalists’ practice and would encourage instructors to develop their students’ problem-solving skills and motivation to practice.

The purpose of this study was to examine graduate instrumentalists’ practice habits, motivation orientations, and the impact of COVID-19 on their instrumental practice. The research questions included: (1) How do graduate instrumentalists organize their practice routine? (2) What common practice strategies do graduate instrumentalists who are from different instrumental groups apply during practice? (3) What factors may motivate or hinder graduate instrumentalists’ practice? (4) How did COVID-19 pandemic impact graduate instrumentalists’ practice?

Method

Research design

I used a qualitative descriptive design to investigate graduate instrumentalists’ practice habits and motivation orientations. This methodology requires that researchers “draw from a naturalistic perspective and examine a phenomenon in its natural state” (Kim et al., 2017, p. 2), avoid using highly interpretive or abstract descriptions moving as far from or into their data but stay close to the surface of words and events, and present facts in everyday language (Sandelowski, 2000). Data for the study included the video recording of a practice session, a questionnaire, video-stimulated recall, and a semi-structured interview with each participant.

Participants

I used purposeful sampling (Patton, 2002) to recruit four graduate instrumentalists who were pursuing a master’s degree in music performance from the School of Music in the Midwest region of the United States to participate in this study. Additionally, maximum variation sampling (Sandelowski, 2000) was used to recruit participants from different instrument families (i.e. brass, percussion, string, and woodwind) in order to explore the common and unique practice habits due to instruments that they played. Characteristics of the four participants in this study are provided in Table 1.

Table 1.

Descriptions of participants.

Name	Instrument	Age (years)	Years of learning	Weekly practice hours
Dan	Tuba	22	8	16
Jack	Cello	22	13	10
Mary	Percussion	23	9	12
Sarah	Oboe	23	12	6

Note. Pseudonyms were used to protect participants’ identities.

Data collection and analysis

Data collection took place 3 weeks in Fall 2020. Participants agreed to participate and were provided a description of the study along with an Institutional Review Board-approved consent form. Data sources consisted of the video recording of a practice session, a questionnaire, video-stimulated recall, and semi-structured interview with each participant. Additionally, I made notes in a researcher journal that included all interactions and discussions with the participants such as email correspondence and conversations.

Phase 1: Video recordings and questionnaire

After obtaining consent from participants, I asked them to provide a video recording representing their daily practice routine. The purpose of using the videos was to stimulate their recall of the practice sessions and to explain why they were choosing certain practice strategies. In order to ensure robust data, I suggested including etude(s) or solo piece(s) in the practice video. Their practice video length ranged from 19 to 56 minutes.

I used the questionnaire, which contains three sections: (a) Practice Strategies Scale (30 items), (b) Practice Motivation Scale (9 items), and (c) Demographic Items (12 items) to collect descriptive information (see Supplemental Appendix B). The practice strategies scale used to investigate participants’ applications of technical skills and practice organization were modified from those used by Hallam et al. (2012), Pintrich et al. (1991), and Rohwer and Polk (2006). Practice motivation was measured through a scale developed from Schatt (2011) that focused on intrinsic and extrinsic beliefs of music practice. Demographic items involved participants’ basic information, such as primary instrument and weekly practice time. Participants received the electronic link to the survey and filled out the questionnaire via Qualtrics after submitting their practice video recording.

Phase 2: Video-stimulated recall and interviews

Video-stimulated recall and interviews took place within 10 days after each participant had submitted their practice video (The sudden decision switching to remote learning after the Thanksgiving holiday from college leaders resulted in participants giving priority to schoolwork before accepting interviews.) and filled out the survey. Participants introduced the piece and/or etude practiced in the recording (e.g. how long they had been learning the piece and their practice plan to provide better context for subsequent analysis). Then, each participant and I watched the practice video together, while the participant controlled the playback of the video in order to narrate practice strategies they used and the purpose for using them. This review process ranged from 23 to 67 minutes.

The next phase was a semi-structured interview that included questions about their perceptions and reflections toward the practice session and other aspects about practice routine and attitudes (see Supplemental Appendix A). When necessary, I asked follow-up questions that encouraged participants to clarify their comments and thus helped manage the conversation by keeping it on topic (Norgaard, 2008). These interviews ranged from 12 to 24 minutes.

All video-stimulated recall sessions and semi-structured interviews were audio recorded. I analyzed the data by using thematic analysis: (a) recorded my initial codes, (b) grouped them into categories, and (c) developed themes through a data-driven way to capture important contents in relation to research questions (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p. 79). Main themes derived as findings for this study were based on the data gathered from the participants with extensive descriptions in video-stimulated recall and interviews.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness was achieved by external review, data triangulation, and member checking. I provided 20% of each participant’s interview responses to an external reviewer with experience conducting qualitative research. Our overall reliability of codes and categories was approximately 82%. We discussed each discrepancy until 100% consensus was achieved. Moreover, I was able to triangulate robust descriptions and provide reliable results by collecting data from multiple sources (i.e. questionnaire, video-stimulated recall, interviews, and my own researcher journal). Additionally, I used member checking that allowed participants to clarify any errors in my transcription in order to improve the accuracy of the results. One of the participants offered a list of their weekly practice routine as Supplemental Material. There were no other additions or alternations made.

Findings

Four themes emerged as a result of participants’ responses from the questionnaire, video-stimulated recall, and interviews. Task-oriented practice routines reflected that participants tended to organize their practice sessions based on goals and practice time. They applied solution-oriented approaches to adopt multiple and effective practice strategies targeted at solving problems. Mixed motivations, including both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, affected participants’ instrumental practice. COVID-19 pandemic resulted in negative influences on graduate instrumentalists such as shortened practice time and frustrated psychological state

Theme 1: Task-oriented practice routines

Participants organized their practice routines with task-oriented principles along with flexible practice plans and schedules. The codes that contributed to this theme included giving priority to studio lessons, flexibly planning and setting goals, and effectively using practice time.

Although participants participated in various music-related activities such as performing in ensembles and serving as a teaching assistant, they gave priority to what they were working on in studio lessons when organizing their practice routines. Jack, a cello player, believed that he could not go over every facet of his musicianship in each practice session. Therefore, “it [practice routine] has to do with what I want to do in my lesson, the next week, and what my teacher asked me to do. So, I always want to cover that first and foremost” (interview). This perspective was echoed by Sarah, an oboe player, who said:

I tend to schedule my practice session around whatever I’m working on [in] my lesson. So, if I’m working on a rapid repertoire that has a lot of chromatic runs or something like that, I’ll base my practice session around that. (interview)

Participants created flexible practice plans with goals and adjusted them according to their actual needs. Dan, a tuba player, said that “I have used practice logs. . .I haven’t really used them recently. I might write down like a couple of things [goals], but it’s never like today I did this and tomorrow I’m doing that” (interview). Jack explained how he set goals for this video-recorded practice session:

I always have mental goals for just one thing I want to get done. Early on in that video, I want to know my rhythms, fingerings, bowings, and get the basics done so that I can improve it a bit more the next time. . .Like for the most recent thing we watched, I wanted to get the intonation a bit better. (interview)

Mary, a percussion player, expressed the same opinion: “It [the organization of the practice routine] really depends like if I’m learning a piece or if I’m perfecting a piece because those practice sessions look a lot different” (interview).

Participants efficiently used practice time and shaped practice routines according to the individual’s habits and needs. Mary was used to blocking off one section of practice each day and practicing late at night after having all other things done. However, Sarah often practiced twice a day with breaks to relax and accomplished other tasks in between her practice sessions. She also reported that “I tend to do afternoon, and sometimes night, [but] I don’t really like to practice much in the mornings” (interview). Jack also mentioned allocating time during his practice session: “I usually go through them [scales, etudes, and pieces] and decide at some point that it’s fine. There are other things I need to get to [complete]” (interview).

Theme 2: Solution-oriented approaches

Participants learned various practice strategies and adopted them based on the need to solve problems. The theme solution-oriented approaches was identified to indicate that participants commonly applied analytic strategies, combined multiple practice strategies to solve a problem, and used practice tools during their practice sessions.

The application of analytic strategies was associated with identifying problems and deciding optimal strategies for improving performance. All participants reported their ability to identify difficult practice sections (questionnaire). Sarah stated that “the first time playing through it [etude] just kind of putting a toe in the water to see what I know, I’m gonna have to fix, and what’s not such an issue. So just kind of testing it out” (video-stimulated recall). Jack shared his skill of experimenting, referring to the process by saying “think of all the possible ways to do something [e.g. fingering, bowing, or tuning] and how to decide what the best one is” (interview), which stimulated him to listen critically to and think of what he played. For example, “I’m experimenting with bows at that point to look for the most comfortable way to play that passage” (video-stimulated recall).

After identifying challenging sections, participants tended to apply multiple strategies to solve problems. Mary worked on three measures in her practice video, and the most frequently applied practice strategies across the practice session were isolation, repetition, and tempo variation. Isolating the difficult section and then combining repetition and slow practice was frequently applied by Jack when figuring out a challenging passage: “You’ll see that I’ll repeat that [section] a couple of times, especially the higher position stuff at a slower tempo where I know actually to focus on the intonation” (video-stimulated recall). In another piece, he further described that “[I play] just a little bit slower and repeat [this section]. There’s a really quick shift, which makes it kind of hard to get in the right place at the right time” (video-stimulated recall).

Using practice tools was helpful for participants to find problems and evaluate progress. Although using the metronome was reported as the most commonly-applied practice tool used by all four participants while practicing (questionnaire), participants also used recordings, a tuner, and a breathing tube to assist practice. Mary believed that videotaping her practice could be used for evaluating progress: “I do videotape myself sometimes and watch it. So, I can see what it [practice outcomes] looks like” (interview) as well as for identifying problems. For example, while watching the practice video, she commented that “My wrist looks way too high off the keyboard. I’m wondering if my keyboard needed to be raised a little bit. It looks too low right now. That’s why you should videotape yourself” (video-stimulated recall). Sarah used a tuner to check her intonation: “As I play, I really tend to get sharp. . .So I catch myself [check intonation] at a point to make sure that I’m still in tune. . .because I don’t want to form bad habits” (video-stimulated recall). Breath Builder is a visual tool that Dan used to practice his breathing and enabled him to observe how his breathing was rather than “thinking about weird things the body might be doing or not doing” (interview).

Theme 3: Mixed motivations

Participants were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to practice. Enjoying making music, strengthening fundamentals, and preparing for lessons were codes that contributed to the mixed motivations theme.

Enjoyment while playing their instruments and making progress motivated participants to practice. Mary expressed that “I like practicing and getting better [at the instrument]” (interview). Dan shared the same thoughts: “I enjoy making music. I enjoy getting better at the instrument. . .It makes me feel satisfied for at least a little bit that I can see myself progressing. If I don’t see myself progressing, that motivates me even [practice] more” (interview). Responses from participants’ questionnaires (see Table 2) further supported this statement.

Table 2.

Responses to the practice motivation subscales in order from highest to lowest mean ratings.

Statement	M	SD
Intrinsic motivation: Growth
I practice my instrument because I enjoy accomplishing personal goals.	5.00	0.0
I practice my instrument because I enjoy a challenge.	4.75	0.50
I practice my instrument because the skills that I develop are really interesting to me.	4.75	0.50
I enjoy practicing because I like solving problems.	4.50	0.58
I enjoy practicing my instrument because it allows me to express myself.	4.25	0.96
Extrinsic motivation: Avoid failure
I practice my instrument because I do not want my teacher to think that I am a poor student.	4.50	0.58
I practice my instrument because I do not want to receive criticism from my teacher.	4.25	0.96
Extrinsic motivation: Approach success
I practice my instrument because I want my teacher to think that I am a good musician.	4.00	0.82
I practice my instrument because I want to receive high grades from my teachers.	3.25	0.96

Note. N = 4. Scale = 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree).

Strengthening fundamentals to improve expertise motivated participants to practice. Sarah and Dan spent time practicing fundamentals such as buzzing, tone, and scales. They believed that building fundamentals are necessary for expertise development. Sarah practiced scales and an etude in the video: “The 30-minute session is really just to build fundamentals and work on little things that are meant to build skills. . .It is something that I scaffold with, when I’m practicing” (interview). Likewise, Dan focused on fundamentals during his entire practice session: “I’m trying to get my fundamentals better. . . I need to work and turn my weaknesses into strengths” (interview).

Aside from intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation such as getting ready for lessons and performances also played an important role in motivating participants’ desire to practice. Mary expressed her perspectives regarding practice motivation: “My lesson with my professor is the biggest one, probably. Also, concerts, performances, [and] auditions” (interview). Dan described similar reasons: “I want to be able to get a job in band. I want to be competitive. And that definitely motivates me to practice” (interview). Sarah sometimes was inclined to tell her professor what she planned to show next week because “that way, I can self-motivate to make sure that I get that done because my professor expects it” (interview).

Theme 4: Challenges faced during COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced participants’ practice progress. The codes that contributed to this theme included shortened practice time and frustrated psychological state.

Participants admitted that they cut down practice time compared to the past. Due to the 2-hour time limitation for the use of practice rooms imposed within the School of Music, Jack and Dan had to take instruments back to their apartments. Jack said that “this semester [Fall 2020], I haven’t practiced hours on it [cello] as much because of the limited [practice] room availability” (interview). Dan stated that “I do try to practice but not as much as previously did” (interview). However, compared with Jack and Dan, Mary, the percussionist, was not as fortunate and was without her instruments for 4 months [Spring 2020 semester], because “I had to be home and the school wasn’t open” (interview).

Individuals’ practice routines were disrupted, negatively affecting their psychological state. Mary indicated that “I was three weeks away from a master’s recital and full speed ahead practicing. And then everything stopped” (interview). When she came back, she was disconnected and frustrated. The experience further hindered her practice motivation: “I felt intimidated and kind of unmotivated and behind after so much time off. It’s hard for me to build it [practice routine] back up” (interview). Similarly, Dan admitted that “over the summer, I did not play anything. It was hard” (interview) because “I don’t want to disturb others, even though I told my neighbors I play the tuba” (interview). Participants acknowledged that COVID-19 pandemic brought enduring influences on their following practice progress, because “getting back on track would take some time,” Mary said (interview).

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine graduate instrumentalists’ practice habits and motivation orientations. Findings indicated that participants organized their practice sessions in a task-oriented manner such as giving priority to studio lessons, flexibly planning and setting goals, and effectively using practice time. In contrast to the findings of previous investigations that undergraduate musicians were less likely to effectively use practice time and engage in practice planning (Nielsen, 2004), graduate instrumentalists in the current study exhibited self-regulation skills including decision making, setting goals, and time management. Further, graduate instrumentalists were inclined to flexibly plan practice sessions in response to available practice time, which was consistent with the suggestions of Byo and Cassidy (2008) to collegiate musicians. Because participating in various music-related activities occupied additional practice time, and flexibly planning optimized their practice efficiency. The results of this study suggested that instrumental instructors may consider encouraging their students to give priority to their needs and short-term goals, which would contribute to their performance achievement.

Participants applied practice strategies through solution-oriented approaches to help them accomplish goals for their practice sessions. As such, they analyzed performance problems and then flexibly combined multiple practice strategies to solve these issues. Analytic strategies, including self-evaluation and self-monitoring, were implemented throughout participants’ practice, contributing to pinpointing errors and evaluating the efficacy of practice (Harnum, 2013; Rohwer & Polk, 2006). Consistent with previous research findings, participants in this study isolated small music segments and gradually added more measures (Graaff, 2014; Tan & Miksza, 2019). Furthermore, they used various practice tools to help improve practice efficiency, such as using a metronome and a tuner to pinpoint and solve problems (Graaff, 2014; Harnum, 2013) and applying a Breath Builder to monitor practice accuracy. It seems that these graduate instrumentalists had sufficient technical skills and self-regulation ability. According to the findings of this study and previous research, graduate instrumentalists are encouraged to share their practice habits and performance experiences, which would be helpful to other musicians’ practice efficiency and musicianship development.

I found that participants were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to practice. This result were consistent with the findings of Hallam (1995), who indicated that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation may coexist. Additionally, participants in the current study expressed their enjoyment for practicing and motivation by getting ready for lessons and performances. It is possible that practicing pieces to get ready for lessons allowed participants to perform a varied repertoire and explore music that interested them, a process that likely contributed to their intrinsic motivation. Because Diaz (2010) also found that graduate instrumentalists did not differ greatly in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in instrumental practice, these orientations may not be dichotomous, even if individuals seem to exhibit one factor more than the other. Further investigations may explore the reciprocal effects between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as its influence on performance achievement.

Findings of this study revealed that COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced instrumentalists’ practice progress and psychological state. Because decisions had to be made quickly by college leaders under the pandemic to prevent transmission on campus (Gardner, 2020), participants were required to shorten their practice time and even lost the opportunity to practice for months in response to these changes. When participants were allowed back on campus, the perception of disconnection and anxiety hindered their motivation to practice. This negatively affected some graduate students’ mental health and resulted in low well-being, stress, anxiety, and depression (Zahneis & June, 2020), which inversely impeded following practice progress. Therefore, instrumental instructors and collegiate musicians may consider working together to talk about their challenges and needs, discussing potential solutions, and developing applicable modes to navigate the challenges inherent in remote teaching and learning. Considering that COVID-19 pandemic might cause enduring influences, examining how graduate instrumentalists’ practice habits and career decisions affected also be of interest to improve their practice efficiency and professional development opportunities.

Limitations and future directions

The small number of participants and the brief amount of time for data collection are limitations of the current study. Therefore, results cannot be generalized to all graduate instrumentalists. Having opportunities to observe instrumentalists’ practice sessions in person and interviewing them immediately afterward would provide more comprehensive information about their thoughts toward practice and their performance. Results of this study may spur future investigators to shorten the time interval between practice sessions and interviews in order to acquire participants’ thoughts about their practice strategies more quickly.

Practice strategies used by graduate instrumentalists from different instrumental families were examined in this study through observing practice video recordings and interviews. In the future, researchers might focus on musicians from one instrument family such as brass to further explore applied practice strategies in particular areas, thus providing more specific suggestions for teachers and students. Kostka (2002) found that many studio instructors and collegiate musicians did not discuss how to organize practice routines and evaluate practice plans in studio lessons. Further examinations could involve studio instructors and their students to investigate possible factors resulting in the formation of practice habits. Doing so may contribute to instructors’ understanding of their students’ practice needs, thus enhancing the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

In this study, I investigated graduate instrumentalists’ practice habits and identified negative influences on their psychological state and practice progress caused by COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding graduate instrumentalists’ learning contexts and challenges during the pandemic can help studio faculty instructors support their students in the design of their practice schedules and needs. The findings of the current study provided valuable information about graduate instrumentalists’ practice routines and practice strategies. Their experience could be a reference for other instrumentalists in organizing practice sessions, improving practice efficiency, and ensuring continued progress and passion in practice and performance.

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-1-ijm-10.1177_02557614221121171 – Supplemental material for Practice habits and motivation: A qualitative descriptive study of graduate instrumentalists

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ijm-10.1177_02557614221121171 for Practice habits and motivation: A qualitative descriptive study of graduate instrumentalists by Yue Liu in International Journal of Music Education

Footnotes

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Yue Liu

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

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