Kevin Gregory Peter

Improving motivation in drum lessons through collective practice

Practising core music skills solo can be so alienating for a novice student in a one-to-one drum kit lesson that it impedes their motivation to practise music. In this investigation, I examined the relationship between my drumming practice and my recent teaching practice through investigating the utilisation of collective learning to improve motivation for drum practice. Furthermore, as one-to-one lessons are normally de-contextualised from the live band performance learning experience, I also attempted to re-contextualise learning the drum-kit from a non-social learning experience to one that is.

This study found that purposive listening, peer observation, and copying movements of more seasoned musicians were the most structured and goal-oriented ways to learn, while learning theories for adults based on Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, were found to be effective in creating scaffold activities that encouraged self-confidence and increased motivation. Incorporating group warm-up activities were successfully used for scaffolding collective performance skills and embodying cognitively challenging rhythms and techniques.

This research also found that allowing students to use their own simpler language in a group setting had significant benefits, while the constant presence of a teacher had a negative impact on students' ability to be playful. Positive reinforcement in the form of praise was found to help the participants become more confident and cooperative in the group setting and, as a result, more motivated to practice.