Strävan att bli bättre - En studie om gymnasieelevers övningsvanor inom pop/rock

Sammanfattning: The study examines practice strategies and views on practicing in high school students, with main instruments guitar or drums in the pop/rock genre. Through qualitative interviews the study covers how the students define practicing, how they practice, and why they practice. The students in the study have a relatively open attitude towards what is considered practice, where almost all aspects of playing music can be regarded as practicing. Effective practicing is described as that which leads to desired end goals. The students have relatively simple strategies, mainly consisting in learning and repeating song, but with some elements of more advanced metacognition such as identifying difficult passages and find suitable methods of overcoming that obstacle. The students are primarily driven by inner factors, such as striving for mastery or long term goals. Goals affect how the students practice, where those who primarily strive for mastery tend to focus more on constructive practice such as improving technique and song material. Those whose goals are to write music and play for others tend to focus more on creative practice, such as improvising and composing. According to the students, they have developed their practice strategies mostly on their own, whilst being educated in what to practice rather than how to practice. Tasks from teachers create a need, from which the students construct a strategy to accomplish given task.