Testing a Framework for Teaching Self-Regulation Skills in Private Violin Instruction

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a framework for teaching self-regulatory skills during private violin lessons. The framework consists of a five-step thinking-action sequence that will allow musicians to evaluate their own playing during practice and equips them to enact necessary changes to their technique to bring their playing closer to a more proficient result. We used microanalysis with a cross-case comparative design to test the efficacy of the proposed framework with two participants (cases), both of similar ages and levels of playing ability, in weekly private lessons over 4 weeks. Trends from the case comparison suggest that this framework has good potential for increasing the use of self-regulatory habits and metacognitive self-reflection skills in students.