Music Learning Self-Efficacy and Deliberate Music Practice: The Mediating Role of Achievement Goal Orientation and the Moderating Role of AI Literacy

Deliberate practice plays a central role in high-quality music learning, yet the motivational and technology-related factors associated with sustained deliberate music practice remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on social cognitive theory, achievement goal theory, and the literature on artificial intelligence (AI) literacy, this study examined the relationships among music learning self-efficacy, achievement goal orientation, AI literacy, and deliberate music practice. A total of 458 music students from a teacher-training university in Liaoning Province, China, completed measures of the four constructs. Music learning self-efficacy was positively associated with deliberate music practice. Achievement goal orientation also showed a significant indirect association between music learning self-efficacy and deliberate music practice, such that students with higher self-efficacy reported stronger achievement goal orientations, which in turn were associated with greater engagement in deliberate music practice. AI literacy further moderated the association between achievement goal orientation and deliberate music practice, with this positive relationship being stronger among students reporting higher levels of AI literacy. These findings suggest that deliberate music practice is associated with both learners’ motivational beliefs and their self-reported AI literacy.