Performance psychologist Dr. Noa Kageyama from the Bulletproof Musician examines a study where adding variation to a motor skill test improved results to as much as double in participants. I completely agree that when practicing, adding variations to the passage or technical exercise highly improves learning rates. The original full article is here. But in short, back in 2016 aJohns Hopkins study (Wymbs et al.), 86 participants, split into three groups, were trained in a “sequential visuomotor isometric pinch task”, a motor skill test. Adding variation highly improved the rate of learning.
Be sure to check out more of his articles and videos. Dr. Noa Kageyama is a performance psychologist, musician, and educator best known for helping musicians overcome performance anxiety and develop effective practice habits. A graduate of the Juilliard School and a former violinist, he is the creator of The Bulletproof Musician, where he shares research-based strategies on performance, motivation, and peak achievement for musicians of all levels.
