Mental Representations in Expert Musicians Following on from my previous post, it has been found that expert musicians have well-developed[…]
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Latest Posts
Goal directed practice and mental representations.
Goal directed practice and mental representations. I asked student today what he would need to do in order to fix[…]
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The difference is in the types of practice
The difference is in the types of practice When referring to quality of instrumental practice, mental representations are one of[…]
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Try harder or try differently?
Try harder or try differently? Deliberate practice Malcom Gladwell (Gladwell, 2011) popularised the notion that it takes 10,000 hours to[…]
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To be described as talented – what do we really mean?
To be described as talented – What do we really mean? The gene for talent does not exist. However, many people[…]
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Work motivation among teachers.
Teacher motivation Adaptive and maladaptive work motivation among teachers. I am very interested in how and what keeps teachers motivated.[…]
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An investigation on the effects of piano training on executive functions of preschool children.
An investigation on the effects of piano training on executive functions of preschool children. A recent Ph.D thesis (Qiu, 2015) has[…]
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A study of inspiring Australian music teachers
A study of inspiring music teachers Inspiring Australian Music Teachers Jennifer Robinson has recently completed a Master of Music thesis[…]
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The positive relationship between music learning and academic achievement
The positive relationship between music learning and academic achievement. Recent research (Roden et al, 2014; Young et al, 2014; Johnson[…]
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Musical Development and Brain Research
Walter and Walter (2015) present a compelling argument of how brain research can inform skill development in musicians, particularly music students. Practice is important in musical skill development and there has been some major inroads into the understanding of musical skill development and expertise in musicians with deliberate practice. What is not fully understood is how the brain responds to varying amounts of practice. We do know the neural pathways in the brain will change with myelination leading to improved connectivity within the networks of the brain of highly trained musicians. Further research is needed so that teachers can use this knowledge to improve music teaching and help students develop musical expertise.
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