Learning a new skill, even a seemingly simple one, can be an overwhelming task for a beginner. A question often faced by the practitioner as a result is whether or not to break the skill into parts for initial practice. Skill complexity and skill organization interact to provide direction as to whether whole or part practice should be employed in a given situation. This article discusses the manner in which careful assessment of these two variables can enable the practitioner to determine the optimal method for developing skill proficiency. (Contains 2 photographs and 3 tables.)