Deliberate Practice Revisisted

Diliberate Practice and conditions for improving performance.

"1. The task must be well defined with a clear goal and be fully understood by the participant.
2. The participants need to be able to perform the task by themselves.
3. The participants need to gain immediate informative and actionable feedback on each performance of the practice task that allow them to make appropriate adjustments to improve.
4. The participant needs to be able to “repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks” Ericsson et al. (1993)

(Anders goes on to describe a fifth criterion.)

5. The practice task must be designed and performed in accordance with individualized instruction and guidance of a teacher." Anders Ericsson 2021 

This is what diliberate practice is? Is this all that is required? Nope, you'll need the following as well.

• The skill to maintain regular, thoughtful, focused practice over an extended period of time. 
• Access to resources like lessons, instruments, and  experiences.
• Good health.
• Oddles of patience. 
• Ambition equal to your ambition.
• Emotional ecouragement from people important to you. 
• Determination and grit when the going gets tough. And the going will get tough.
  

​Brooke Macnamara did a  meta study explores the efficacy of dilberate practice. According to the article, the authors conclude that diliberate practice accounts for only 21% of the output.  The rest is associated with the list directly above this. Anders Ericson directly responded to Macnamara in another paper and the bun fight was on. 

​David
2023 and 2025

• Ericsson, K.Anders. “Given That the Detailed Original Criteria for Deliberate Practice Have Not Changed, Could the Understanding of This Complex Concept Have Improved over Time? A Response to Macnamara and Hambrick (2020).” Psychological Research, vol. 85, no. 3, Apr. 2021, pp. 1114–20. EBSCOhost, https://0-doi-org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/10.1007/s00426-020-01368-3.
• Macnamara, Brooke N et al. “Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: a meta-analysis.” Psychological science vol. 25,8 (2014): 1608-18. doi:10.1177/0956797614535810
  

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Practicing Blue Bossa

One effective way of practicing jazz is the "Bill McBirnie method". Bill plays along with professional recordings. He has told me that he might spend hours playing along with dozens of recordings of a particular tune he is working on.  Here are the videos I used to practice Blue Bossa this week on the vibraphone. 

Pay attention to the articulations and the differences in the last phrase, (measures 13-14-15-16). There are interesting differences to explore. 
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2025 Update:

My practice regime, on a good day, with the malletkat. 

• Practice jazz chords, solid and broken
  
• Major scales 
  
• Practice comping along with the recordings as best I can. I leave out chords I can’t make in time. But, I keep track of where I am.  
  
• Playing along with Videos. 15 videos
  

Then I transpose a lick through the 12 keys.