Insights about practice from the perspective of motor learning : a review

K E Y W O R D S : Feedback, contextual interference, observation, attention, self-control, music education While the learning of motor skills, including sport skills, has been examined in the laboratory, and countless empirical studies have been conducted to examine how factors such as feedback or the performer’s attentional focus affect learning, musicians have chosen to look the other way. Instrumentalists and vocalists do not deny that virtuosic playing is a complex motor skill, but they shudder at the thought that their art can be analyzed and quantified. It is hard for them to relinquish the age-old belief that “hard science” cannot be used to fathom musical performance. Even music educators have shunned a systematic approach to teaching methods, preferring to rely on habit, instinct, and the masterstudent model that has been perpetuated for centuries (Richter, 2001). Indeed, music pedagogy has been consistently resistant to change, even in light of neurobiological evidence that has revolutionized scientists’ understanding of learning and behaviour. Perhaps it is a question of identity: music teachers prefer to view themselves as artist-teachers rather than professional trainers. Fortunately, a new generation of musicians is developing curiosity for the work of experimental psychologists. In return, researchers in the field of motor learning are anxious to begin interdisciplinary studies, and welcome such adventurers with open arms, appreciative of participants who display prowess at some of the most