Matt Wilkey Assignment 2 CPMM

In this essay I shall show how setting daily SMART goals enabled a high-quality of
preparation impacting my playing, that of the other band members and my
engagement with the audience. I shall also briefly examine whether the SMART
framework is useful in all situations.

The guitarist from a local band was unavailable for an engagement on 1st December
so I was asked to deputise. Owing to other commitments I was only able to commit
one week to learn the 27 songs required (Appendix A) providing the perfect
opportunity to assess the learning impact of deliberate practice with SMART goals as
it was time-bound, built on existing knowledge, not too far beyond my ability
(Erricson et al, 1993) and had feedback mechanisms (Erricson et al, 1993) via the
band’s audio files and the recordings of my practice.

Deliberate practice has many constraints (Erricson et al, 1993) and mine were ‘time’
and ‘environment’. I could only practice twice daily so sessions were an hour long to
optimise focus (Hallam, 1998); although this was often compromised by a noisy,
family home environment (Wilkey, 2017, 0:00). In future, I shall practice at 6am to
facilitate the focus deliberate practice requires (Erricson et al, 1993).

I will also change the content of my practices as a dissection of my practice patterns

(Ascenso, 2016a) revealed that I usually prioritised lead exercises. As only five
songs required guitar solos, I chose to prioritise each song’s chord progressions and
rhythms, relating practice to the repertoire to ensure optimal progress (Ascenso,
2016b). This resulted in greater dexterity and precision, unexpectedly improving my
legato lead playing (Wilkey, 2017, 2:32-5:33). In future I shall strike a better balance
between chordal, rhythm and lead work as improvements in one area can stimulate
progress in others.

This improved balance was accompanied with improvements in focus and motivation
by creating daily SMART goals to tailor each session to its purpose (Ascenso,
2016c). The need to create daily goals meant I constantly interrogated my playing,
which quickly highlighted issues with open strings ringing errantly in my rhythm work
(Wilkey, 2017, 5m34s). Goals were set and my rhythm work was cleaned up (Wilkey,
2017, 7m02s) in a cycle which sustained motivation:

Identifying an issue
and setting an
appropriate goal

Increased Focused practice

motivation to towards the goal
practice

Achieving the goal

Matt Wilkey Assignment 2 CPMM

This sustained motivation facilitated high-quality, consistent practice enabling me to

learn the repertoire to a high standard and illustrating the relationship between
motivation and improvement (Erricson et al,1993).

Being naturally goal-orientated I found the SMART framework useful and was able to
design goals which were specific and measurable (e.g. “Play riff from ‘He’s the
greatest dancer’ ten times at 100bpm”) but some found the SMART framework
challenging. One CPMM student’s goals lacked specificity and time-boundedness
(Sutherland, 2017) whilst another could not describe their goals using the SMART
framework (Boone, 2017). Undoubtedly the framework requires discipline, practice
and creativity but sports scientists have shown that different personality-types favour
different goal-setting strategies (Burton et al, 2013) so it is possible that SMART will
not suit everyone, underlining the importance of adapting our approaches to ensure
optimum learning (Ascenso, 2016a).

Because the performance featured songs which I have played in the past but have
since forgotten, I was able to make meaningful comparisons and assess my practice
methodology. I became aware that, despite playing with unknown musicians and no
rehearsal, I was playing with more accuracy, clarity and assurance than in some
previous engagements with familiar musicians after several rehearsals. The
emphasis from my daily goals on rhythm work enabled me to ‘lock in’ with the bassist
and drummer whilst the elevated control over my playing yielded confidence and
enjoyment.

This confidence removed anxiety and freed up the mental resources to engage in
active listening enabling me to adapt to the subtle ebb and flow of the band. This
was confirmed through a conversation at the end of the evening with the bassist and
drummer who commented that I had played sensitively, responding musically to the
rest of the band and inspiring confidence.

I was also able to engage with the audience and band members visually because I
did not need to look at my guitar as often owing to increased automaticity. Therefore
I could follow all non-verbal cues and gestures, contributing to a polished
collaborative performance. This can be seen in a short video extract where I am
spending far more time looking at band members and the audience than usual
(Dodgey Practice, 2017).

In conclusion, my experiment with SMART goal-setting led to consistent, high-

quality practice which translated into a high-quality, assured performance enabling
the other band members to play confidently whilst allowing for greater audience
engagement than before.

I believe that setting small, well defined daily goals was pivotal in prolonging
motivation by creating a constant sense of achievement so the efficacy of my
approach was a result of the partnership between the use of the SMART framework
and a daily goal-setting regimen. This has shown that I have a goal-orientated
personality and has led me to define some long term goals in my learning journal
(Appendix B) which I shall start to refine into daily SMART goals.
Matt Wilkey Assignment 2 CPMM

Bibliography

Ascenso, Sarah (2016a) ‘5: Evaluation’, Certificate: The Practice of Music Making,
Unit 6: Practising effectively [Online]. Available at
http://moodle.trinitylaban.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=50718&chapterid=1557
(Accessed 22 November 2017).

Ascenso, Sarah (2016b) ‘4: Execution, Certificate: The Practice of Music Making,
Unit 6: Practising effectively [Online]. Available at
http://moodle.trinitylaban.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=50718&chapterid=1552
(Accessed 21 November 2017).

Ascenso, Sarah (2016c) ‘4.4: Tailoring practice, Certificate: The Practice of Music
Making, Unit 6: Practising effectively [Online]. Available at
http://moodle.trinitylaban.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=50718&chapterid=1556
(Accessed 21 November 2017).

Boone, Kevin (2017) “SMART”, forum message to Certificate: The Practice of Music
Making, Reflections on Practice, 16th November.

Burton, Damon; Gillham, Andy; Weinberg, Robert; Yukelson, David; Weigand,

Danie, 2013, “Goal Setting Styles: Examining the Role of Personality Factors on the
Goal Practices of Prospective Olympic Athletes”, Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol. 36
Issue 1, University of South Alabama, pp.23-44

Dodgey Practice (2017) [Highweek Village Inn, 1st December] Available at

https://www.facebook.com/www.solaaudio.co.uk/videos/1899856696694682/
(Accessed 22 December 2017)

Ericsson, K. A., Kampe, R.T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993) The role of deliberate
practice in the acquisition of expert performance, Psychological Review Vol. 100
Issue 3, Amherst, MA, American Psychological Association, pp.363-406

Hallam, S. (1998) Instrumental Teaching: A Practical Guide to Better Teaching and

Learning, Oxford, Heinemann Educational, pp.135-155

Sutherland, Mary (2017) “Re: Unit 6 post - Activity 6.3.1”, forum message to
Certificate: The Practice of Music Making, Reflections on Practice, 20th November.

Wilkey, Matthew (2017), “Matt_Wilkey_CPMM_Assignment_2_2017-18” [Audio clip]

Matt Wilkey Assignment 2 CPMM

Appendix A – Setlist for 1st December

Matt Wilkey Assignment 2 CPMM

Appendix B – Long term goals