Allocation Policy
Another part of this model is called allocation policy. A funnel at the bottom of the "arousal/capacity" box allows information to flow into a smaller container (labeled allocation) which represents the way we allocate our attention. This central funnel is where a great deal of our teaching efforts are focused. Most performance activities require that we attend to various tasks at once and this means making decisions about how to allocate attention. One way we deal with the multiple tasks involved in music-making is through automatic processing, made possible by our previous experience and practice. For example, by practicing a passage using the same fingering over a period of several days or weeks and/or by preceding the study of a piece with technical exercises which use similar finger patterns, the fingering choices become so automatic that we do not need to pay attention to those decisions. As a matter of fact, automatic processing happens so easily with motor skills that we may find it almost impossible to change a bad fingering choice after only a few days of practice. A skillful teacher tries to guide a student through early practice stages so that more skills become automatic, leaving attention for more sophisticated levels of thinking and listening. We also try hard to minimize the need for "unlearning" so that our students will not have to devote attention to correcting mistakes.
Guided practice is very helpful when a new piece is assigned as teachers help students pay attention to various features of the music in a rational order. What we are doing is helping students make allocation decisions. We know that most students cannot concentrate on everything required to play a new piece perfectly at first sight, so we help them decide what to think about first. Teachers often begin by having students look for patterns which are familiar, so that those things which can most easily be automated are attended to first. For a keyboard student this might include identifying scales or chords, finding repeated rhythmic patterns, noticing common finger patterns and blocking important hand shapes. We help students break down a larger goal into realistic smaller goals or practice strategies. This is a way to try to help them allocate attention to the most important things first.
Successful lessons consider the limits of attention. A teacher would not usually give a child four or five directions at once, but would ask that attention be focused on one new thing at a time. Sometimes one element might need to be sacrificed in order to attend to another. Pitch and rhythm can be separated, for example, if a student is not able to attend to both simultaneously. Practice can be slowed down, giving more time to listen and control movements. Pianists practice hands separately to focus on fingering choices. A great deal of wasted or inefficient practice is the result of trying to do more than one can actually pay attention to. Performances are littered with unnoticed errors, often because pianists do not break their work into manageable practice steps or because they try to go too fast too soon. Students often misjudge how much they can control (i.e., think about) at once. Discussing this allocation funnel is a way of reminding students of a very real human limitation and it can be enlightening to have them make conscious allocation decisions. Group lessons provide a perfect opportunity to discuss what one should think about during performance and to assess the results of a particular way of thinking.
Practice goals should also take allocation of attention into account. It might be helpful for students first to consider how many different things they must think about when playing a piece and then decide how many of those elements could be practiced separately (to give that element undivided attention). If done thoughtfully, practicing becomes a series of small challenges, building one element upon another. Students often need to be reminded to practice short sections rather than to play from beginning to end of a piece. Practicing one section several times in a row is much more likely to lead to automatic processing than the same number of repetitions of the whole piece. Maintaining attention for a series of short goals is usually more attainable than keeping maximum concentration for a long movement.
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