Research has also found that successful performances are often connected with feelings of sufficient preparation, positive mindsets and presenting a high, yet attainable, level of challenge. Indeed, the quality rather than quantity of practice is regarded by some as more important in explaining achievement ( Ryan and Deci, 2000, 2002 McPherson et al., 2016). Some evidence suggests that it explains no more than 30% in the expertise of a performer ( Meinz and Hambrick, 2011 Hambrick et al., 2013 Macnamara et al., 2014). However, the deliberate practice framework, which has been simplified within non-research literature as the 10-year and 10,000-h rule ( Kaufman, 2013), is becoming increasingly contested. Deliberate practice, which was first studied in sport sciences, is also important in the music domain ( Ericsson et al., 1993 Lehmann and Ericsson, 1997 Miksza and Tan, 2015). Implications for conservatory musicians and teachers are discussed.Įlite musicians need to overcome many challenges and invest much time practicing in order to excel and perform at their highest level, especially during their formative years.
Our results show that music students could benefit from advice on how to organize their preparation period well before an important performance takes place. Emotionally, conservatory musicians go through pleasant and unpleasant emotions depending on the phase of their preparation. Also, during their preparation, most music students prefer technical and musical work than challenges such as playing in front of the public. Organizational and disorganizational competencies, specific self-regulatory skills, seem not to be exploited by conservatory musicians. Self-regulatory efforts to prepare for a music performance exam vary from one musician to another.
The results showed that conservatory musicians go through different phases (Phase 1: Choosing a piece Phase 2: Piece discovery Phase 3: Piece interpretation Phase 4: Performance preparation). Elicitation interviews provided access to music students’ experiences by describing their general preparation. All musicians, through an elicitation interview, were asked to recall and reconstruct their preparation period, leading up to a performance exam. Thirteen conservatory musicians aged between 19 and 21 years ( M = 19.6 SD = 0.76) participated in the study. Conservatory musicians were recruited from an Australian University Conservatorium. This study sought to identify and analyze the context-specific temporal organization and self-regulation efforts that music students employ during their preparation period. Musicians and especially music students encounter many challenges when preparing themselves for an important musical performance. Performing at the very highest levels requires rigorous preparation before the important performance.