Practice behavior of first-year university music students: thriving in unusual times

Introduction The way in which university music students practice is crucial for their development and critical for their lifelong success. Once they begin attending a music university, practice strategies change and evolve, influenced by individual and environmental factors. However, it remains unclear how music students' practicing changes during their first academic year and what might influence their practice behaviors. Method In this study, music students completed questions about their practice both at the beginning and at the end of their first academic year at universities of music. Responses were collected in two surveys: in 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 in Germany ( n = 63) and America ( n = 47). A questionnaire was developed to allow participants to report their practice behaviors. It included items about daily practice time and the use of specific practice strategies and goals. The final measurement at the end of the second survey took place during the Covid-19 lockdown—quite an unusual situation for the students. Thus, the data also provide insights about how the special situation of the lockdown shaped participants' practice during the second semester of their first-year. Analyses considered comparisons between surveys and institutions. Results During lockdown, all students increased their use of practice strategies related to self-regulated learning (SRL), considered the development of their own interpretations, and reduced the use of some less effective practice methods, such as repeating a piece from the beginning until a problem is solved. Furthermore, the results showed that music students surveyed in America reduced their average daily practice time at the end of their first academic year, while those in Germany increased it. This difference grew into a significant interaction effect between institutions. Discussion The findings provide insights into music students' practice behaviors over their first academic year of higher education. It uncovered some variances in practice strategies that may have been a reaction to the challenges of the pandemic. Generally, much of the students' practice behaviors did not change. However, all appeared to become more self-regulated, even expanding their repertoire of practice methods in the lockdown term. Therefore, the findings suggest that students adapted their practice strategies when external circumstances changed in order to keep thriving during those unusual times.