How to Practice: A Method for Freshmen Non-Music Majors in Performance Ensembles
Abstract
How to Practice: A Method for Non-Music Majors in Performance Ensembles is a thesis project, which resulted in the formation of a workshop and resource guide. The workshop functioned as a way to assess this method as a valid way to improve practice. The resource guide provides participants a reference point to utilize after the workshop, to allow for continued self-guided improvement. This research was conducted with the following questions in mind: Is this method more effective than a students’ current practice routine in improving their performance? The resource guide contains warm-up material, explanation of practice strategies, rhythm and scale sheets, and a method to develop a deliberate practice mindset. A workshop was conducted with a population (N=20), in which the participants started by taking a pretest that consisted of practicing an excerpt and recording their performance at the end of the practice session. Participants then participated in an interactive lecture which instructed and demonstrated all aspects of the resource guide. After the lecture, participants again practiced a similar excerpt; ending their practice session with a recording of their performance. The data gathered from this workshop was analyzed and displayed a positive correlation with participation in this workshop and an increase in posttest scores.
Subject Area
Music|Music education|Curriculum development
Recommended Citation
Jordan L Thomas,
"How to Practice: A Method for Freshmen Non-Music Majors in Performance Ensembles"
(2023).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI30316638.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI30316638