A study of piano student's behaviors towards musical practice in the conservatory of music College of Creative Arts, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) / Arfah Ab. Razak and Nurul Athirah Manap

The purpose of this study is to identify piano students' behaviors towards musical practice and to explore the piano students' preparedness for their performances. This study addresses the practice routine applied by the piano students from BMusic education and BMusic performance from the Faculty of Music, UiTM and how their level of preparedness towards performances. A mixed study approach was used to identify the piano students' behaviors towards musical practice. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and also a survey with ten piano students from the BMus Education and BMus Performance from the Faculty of Music, UiTM. Based on these piano students' behaviors, three major themes have emerged. The piano students appeared to have a variety of behaviors towards musical practice. Students tend to spend a large time of their practice sessions in off-task or non-music behaviors such as daydreaming or changing materials. The study also contributes to understanding on how the piano students' behaviors towards musical practice affect their level of preparedness for their performances.