Exploring the Efficacy of Deliberate Practice and Memorisation Skills in the Process of Learning Debussy’s L’Isle joyeuse: A Practice-Led Study

Abstract

Abstract In a practice-led study, the authors explored the process followed by classical pianists when learning new repertoire at an advanced level. The study drew on accounts by professional pianists and pedagogues, as well as on case studies of the learning process in musicians. Further, the study drew on literature about practice and memorisation. It incorporated the second author’s own documented process of learning Claude Debussy’s L’Isle joyeuse. Audio recordings and journal entries from each practice session during his learning process were transcribed and a description of the learning process is presented. The process was divided into four stages, namely, initial learning, first revision, second revision (memorisation), and polishing. The results are discussed and compared with the literature. The study found that an efficient learning process reflects the late Swedish psychologist K. Anders Ericsson’s principles of deliberate practice and acquisition of long-term working memory. It further found that practice strategies which introduce contextual interference into the process could be beneficial, as could concentrated, musical slow practice. Other beneficial techniques include mental practice in order to strengthen memorisation.