Quantity and quality of musical practice as predictors of performance quality

Twenty-two pianists, classified into four levels of skill, were asked to le arn and memorize an assigned composition by J. S. Each (different for each level). All practice was recorded on cassette tape. At the end of the learn ing process, the pianists performed their composition in a recital setting. The resulting performances were evaluated Lv three experienced piano teach ers. From the cassette tapes, values for the quantity of practice were obta ined. These values were compared across all four levels of skill and examin ed to reveal whether they were related to quality of performance. The analy ses indicate that the standard deviations of the amount of time spent in ea ch practice session increased systematically with level of skill and that p ianists at higher levels spent more time in each practice session. Quantity of practice, however, was not significantly related to quality of performa nce. Rather, pianists who employed longer practice segments by the middle s tage of practice produced better musical, communicative and technical perfo rmances. These findings stand in defiance of the argument that quantity of practice is the fundamental determinant of the quality of performance. Inst ead, they suggest that the content and quality of an individual's practice must be examined when investigating the determinants of musical skill.