ABSTRACT
Some young musicians managed to attain high grade levels with relatively little practice while others did four times the average practice to gain a given grade. Learners need to have knowledge based mental representations of appropriate musical outcomes to check for errors, select possible strategies and monitor progress. The importance of time spent learning and the need to practise to attain high levels of musical expertise suggest that learners need to be highly motivated, although there is evidence that not all professional musicians enjoy practising. Teachers need to provide such opportunities or encourage learners to join existing musical groups at an early stage in their learning. Enhancing the quality of training for instumental teachers so that they have high levels of musical and pedagogic expertise to be able to support students in this way is a major challenge for music education.
