This research was designed to determine whether musicians' learning is affected by the time intervals interposed between practice sessions. Twenty-nine non-pianist musicians learned a 9-note sequence on a piano keyboard in three practice sessions that were separated by 5 min, 6 hr, or 24 hr. Significant improvements in performance accuracy were…

During evening practice sessions, 32 nonpianist musicians learned a short melody on piano, and then either learned a second short piano melody, learned a difficult unfamiliar piece on their principal instruments, practiced familiar material on their principal instruments, or engaged in no other music-related motor behavior prior to sleep; practice…

To test the extent to which learners performing a simple keyboard passage would be affected by directing their focus of attention to different aspects of their movements, 16 music majors performed a brief keyboard passage under each of four focus conditions arranged in a counterbalanced design--a total of 64 experimental sessions. As they…

Thirty-six nonmusicians practiced a five-element key-press sequence on a digital piano, repeating the sequence as quickly and accurately as possible during twelve 30-s practice blocks alternating with 30-s pauses. Twelve learners rested for 5 min between Blocks 3 and 4, another 12 learners rested for 5 min between Blocks 9 and 10, and the…