Psycho-sensorial categories: Actions and behaviors of piano practice at different levels of expertise

Abstract

In the current literature, instrumental practice dealing with elementary levels of expertise tends to be underestimated compared to that of professional musicians. Therefore, the purpose of the present research was to investigate actions and behaviors in piano practice carried out by pianists belonging of different levels of expertise. In a case-study approach guided by phenomenological principles, four participants were selected according to their potential representativeness at different levels of expertise, their received formal piano instruction, and accumulated practice time. The participants were asked to record one practice session of two piano pieces from their current repertoire. They were instructed to select one piece that they considered more challenging (piece 1) and another piece that they considered less challenging (piece 2). Semi-structured interviews provided information about their strategies. Nine categories were proposed as characteristic actions and behaviors of piano practice within the scope of the classical Western music tradition, namely, testing, repeating, isolating, alternating, exploring, adjusting, pausing, straggling, and slipping. Such categories proved to be common for all participants, exemplified by the practices of four participants (precollege, undergraduate, graduate students and professional pianists), and provided evidence of the nuances of deliberation, such as the procedures to approach and improve the repertoire (and their effectiveness), the effort to stay engaged and on task, and some of the limits in attention to practice.