Mindful practicing - Mindfulness and goal setting exercises for fostering self-efficacy

This research explores the creation and application of mindfulness and goal setting exercises and tests its relationship with the construct of self-efficacy for music learning and practicing. Three separate questionnaires and pre- and post-intervention interviews were applied to a sample of 11 conservatory students. All participants but one rated higher scores of self-efficacy for music learning and practicing in one of the questionnaires. The additional questionnaires, interviews and formats that were analyzed give this study a broader scope for identifying distinct factors that may have a relation with the exercises applied and higher self-ratings of self-efficacy. The content of this research provides an analysis of mindfulness practices and goal-setting strategies and their application to the instrumental practice of music conservatory students. The material envisioned for this study is both original and retrieved from external sources. Some of the material is taken from author Vanessa Cornett and her book “The Mindful Musician” (Cornett, 2019), as well as from Sarah Samuel’s book “Mindful Crafting” (2018) and Bernadette Dijkhuizen-Keogh’s work (2019). This research wishes to provide tools not only for students who want to improve their sense of self-efficacy regarding their instrumental practice but also for teachers, who want to explore the material developed in this study with their students.

Author: Magdalena Morales Hidalgo