The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to explore the effect of self-regulated practice on the musical performance of young students and 2) to identify specific self-regulation skills utilized by young student musicians during individual practice. The following questions guided the study:1) What is the individual performance gain for young students using a self-regulated practice routine?2) What is the individual performance gain for young students using a teacher-directed practice routine?3) What self-regulation strategies do young students choose to use in independent practice?4) Do young students exhibit consistent use of the same strategies in all practice sessions?5) To what extent do young students engage in goal-setting within a given practice session?Participants in the study were 37 volunteer students enrolled in a middle school band program in the southeastern portion of the United States. Students were randomly assigned to either a self-regulated practice routine (experimental group, n=19) or a teacher-directed practice routine (control group, n=18). The study took place over five weeks. Pre- and post-tests wererecorded during sessions 1 and 5. During sessions 2, 3, and 4, students in both groups practiced the same excerpt; a different excerpt was used in each session. Over the treatment period both groups experienced gains, but no significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between groups. Practice behaviors of students enrolled in the study were examined using a questionnaire with four subscales: self-regulation, self-efficacy, concentration, and motivation. There were no significant differences between the control and experimental groups for three of the four subscales or for the overall scale. There was a significant difference in the motivation subscale, with the teacher-directed control group scoring higher than the self-regulated experimental group (indicating greater self-reported motivation). The control group also was more likely to engage in goal-setting prior to beginning practice sessions or within given sessions. The strategies used most frequently among all students were repetition and altering tempo. However, it should be noted that repetition was by far the most common practice.