| The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of blocked and random practice schedules on the performance accuracy, speed, temporal evenness and attitude of beginning clarinet students. The research hypotheses were based on the contextual interference hypothesis, which predicts that a blocked practice order (low contextual interference) leads to superior performance immediately following practice, compared to a random practice order (high contextual interference). Conversely, at retention, participants who practiced motor tasks in random order will exhibit superior performance relative to participants who practiced in blocked order.;After performing a screening task, 41 beginning clarinet students completed three practice sessions on three seven-pitch exercises. Students in the blocked order practiced 18 trials of one exercise per day. Students in the random order practiced six trials of each exercise per day, totaling 18 trials of each exercise by the third session. The final three practice trials were termed 'acquisition'. Twenty-four hours after acquisition, students performed a retention test, playing each exercise three times in either blocked or random order and three trials of two new transfer exercises. A brief, researcher-designed practice attitude questionnaire was completed after transfer tasks. The design was fully counterbalanced and all practice trials were digitally recorded.;Preliminary analyses indicated the initial ability levels of the practice groups were not significantly different. Also, task order at retention was not a significant factor. The primary analyses indicated no significant differences between blocked and random practice groups at acquisition for accuracy, speed or temporal evenness. However, at retention the random group performed significantly faster than the blocked group (F(5, 34) = 4.346, p < .004). No significant differences were found between groups at transfer or for attitude toward practice.;Results are discussed in terms of prior findings in motor learning and music practice research. While beginning band instruction often features repetitive practice, results of this study suggest random practice orders are more effective for beginning clarinet lesson instruction and practice instruction. Suggestions for future research include the investigation of blocked and random practice orders with musicians of other ages and ability levels and in large ensemble settings. |
