Satisfied? Examining Focus of Attention in Self-Directed Practice

Abstract

In a series of three video-recorded assignments over a 6-week period, undergraduate music education students ( N = 16) enrolled in an instrumental methods course described aloud what they were thinking about as they practiced a three-note melody on a secondary brass instrument. Later, I completed a content analysis of the students’ practice verbalizations (PVs) captured in their assignment videos. Brass primary students ( n = 3) described thinking about predominantly external components of performance (the effects their physical actions produced). Non-brass primary students ( n = 13) described thinking about internal (parts of the body) and external components in relatively equal proportion, often focusing their attention on paired action-outcome (i.e., internal–external) relationships. After the final assignment, non-brass students reported higher levels of satisfaction with their progress than the brass primary students and expressed confidence in their ability to guide their own practice independently and effectively toward the accomplishment of meaningful goals.