scholarly journals Music performance anxiety in classical musicians – what we know about what works

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raluca Matei ◽  
Jane Ginsborg
Keyword(s):  
Musical Training ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Performance Quality ◽  
What Works ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Research Resources

When pursued professionally, the demands of musical training and performance can interfere with musicians' well-being and health. Music performance anxiety, while energising at optimal levels, impairs performance quality when excessive. A range of interventions has been explored to address it. However, the poor methodological quality of such studies and the complexity of this issue should mobilise further research resources in this direction.

Development and evaluation of two brief group interventions for music performance anxiety in community musicians

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianna T. Kenny ◽  
Naomi Halls
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Sensitivity ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Group Interventions ◽  
Empirically Supported Treatment ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Performance Quality ◽  
And Performance

This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventions for music performance anxiety (MPA) aimed at reducing anxiety and improving performance quality. A cognitive behavioural therapy intervention was developed based on an existing empirically-supported treatment Chilled (Rapee et al., 2006), focusing on cognitive, physiological and behavioural symptoms. The second treatment, anxiety sensitivity reduction, targeted primarily physiological symptoms and included relaxation strategies. Interventions were administered in a workshop format over one day with four intervention sessions, preceded by a pedagogic practice skills session that functioned as a control/placebo intervention. A quasi-experimental group randomization design compared the interventions in a heterogeneous sample of community musicians. Sixty-eight participants completed measures of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, depression, and MPA. Participants performed four times (pre- and post-placebo, post-treatment and follow-up) and were assessed for state anxiety and performance quality at each performance. Results indicated that both interventions offered moderately significant gains for the musicians: anxiety was reduced and performance quality improved after each intervention and changes were maintained at follow-up. Anxiety sensitivity reduction showed a trend to exceed the CBT-based interventions, but a larger, higher-powered study is needed to confirm this advantage.

scholarly journals What Does it Take to Flow? Investigating Links Between Grit, Growth Mindset, and Flow in Musicians

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 205920432198952
Author(s):  
Jasmine Tan ◽  
Kelly Yap ◽  
Joydeep Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Dispositional Flow ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Experience Of Flow

While it may seem effortless for great musicians to deliver beautiful works of art, little is known about the hard work behind these performances. Musicians require grit to sustain effort over many years of training but flow can sweeten this experience. Growth mindset, referring to the belief that ability is malleable, is often related to grit and has been theorized to be conducive to flow. Self-identified musicians, between 18 and 57 years of age ( N = 162), participated in an online survey investigating the potential links between grit, growth mindset, and dispositional flow. Correlational analyses revealed that grit was a significant predictor of flow but no correlations between growth mindset and grit or flow were found. Furthermore, a hierarchical regression analysis taking into account participants’ musical training, personality traits, and performance anxiety found that grit did not predict dispositional flow over and above what can be predicted by practice hours and music performance anxiety. Altogether, these findings offer a closer look at the effects of the non-cognitive factors of growth mindset and grit on the experience of flow in music performance.

Predictors of music performance anxiety in conservatory students

2021 ◽  
pp. 030573562110322
Author(s):  
Mariola Lupiáñez ◽  
Francisco de Paula Ortiz ◽  
Jaime Vila ◽  
Miguel A. Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Conservatory Students

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is one of the main problems experienced by music students. It manifests in affective, cognitive, somatic, and behavioral symptoms that can occur regardless of the quality of the musical performance. The aim of this study was to perform a regression analysis to determine the variables that contribute to the prediction of MPA in conservatory students. A total of 295 Spanish music students aged 15–68 years enrolled in Spanish conservatories completed a battery of questionnaires selected to collect information about demographic characteristics, musical training, learning processes, and health and psychological variables. Pearson’s correlations and ANOVA were calculated, and a regression analysis was done to predict the development of MPA. The results showed that MPA is largely predicted by health and psychological variables, including depression, fear of negative evaluation, social avoidance, poor achievement motivation, and use of substances to alleviate MPA. Age at first musical performance with an audience was the only musical training variable with sufficient strength to predict MPA (the older the participant, the greater the MPA). The article concludes with a discussion of the need to implement psychological and educational counseling in music education centers as well as specific training to increase the quality of the musical career and personal wellbeing of the students.

scholarly journals Music performance anxiety from the challenge and threat perspective: psychophysiological and performance outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie J. A. A. Guyon ◽  
Regina K. Studer ◽  
Horst Hildebrandt ◽  
Antje Horsch ◽  
Urs M. Nater ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Challenge And Threat ◽  
And Performance

Music Performance Anxiety—Part 1: A Review of its Epidemiology

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariadna O Brugués
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Based Medicine

Music performance anxiety (MPA) affects many individuals regardless of age, gender, experience, and hours of practice. In order to better understand the epidemiology of MPA, a review of the literature was done. Sixteen articles, meeting EBM criteria, were identified and analyzed. Children rarely suffer from MPA, while adolescents show symptoms similar to adults. Females are generally more affected than males. There is no relation between professional experience and performance anxiety. Great musicians such as Pau Casals and Enrico Caruso suffered from MPA. Nevertheless, students affected by MPA may decide not to become professional musicians because of their inability to cope with the devastating effects of performance anxiety. Solo performances showed higher MPA scores than ensemble performances. Despite these conclusions, long-term cohort studies with larger, homogeneous groups of subjects would be desirable, according to the evidence-based medicine criteria.

Effects of Meditation on Music Performance Anxiety

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-130
Author(s):  
Joanne C Chang ◽  
Elizabeth Midlarsky ◽  
Peter Lin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
School Of Music ◽  
Meditation Group ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Manhattan School Of Music

This study investigated the effect of meditation on music performance anxiety. Participants were 19 students between the ages of 18 and 41 yrs, who were recruited from the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Yale University School of Music, and State University of New York at Purchase. The experimental group received a series of eight meditation classes, and the control group received no meditation training. After the 8-week training period, all performed in a concert. Pretests and post-tests of music performance anxiety were given and post-tests of state anxiety and of performance concentration. Performance anxiety decreased among participants in the meditation group, in contrast to participants in the control group, whose performance anxiety did not decrease. Differences in regard to post-test state anxiety and performance concentration were not significant. An additional benefit of meditation was a reported increase in relaxation pleasure even in the period immediately before the performance. Results indicate that meditation may be a useful tool for aiding performers to combat performance anxiety.

Music Performance Anxiety in Young Musicians: Comparison of Playing Classical or Popular Music

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Nusseck ◽  
Mark Zander ◽  
Claudia Spahn
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Musical Background ◽  
Musical Genres

Objectives: Music performance anxiety (MPA) is an issue frequently experienced by musicians. It occurs not only in experienced musicians but also in children and adolescents. Furthermore, most research on MPA has been done with musicians who specialized in classical music. This study investigated the development of MPA across the ages in young musicians focusing on the classical and popular genres. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, 239 students at German music schools, aged between 7 and 20 yrs, were asked about their perceived MPA and musical background. The data were analyzed according to musical genre and age. Multiple regression analyses were performed to investigate the influences of musical experiences on MPA. Results: The analyses yielded high levels of MPA for classical musicians between 7 and 16 yrs, which was reduced in older students; for popular musicians, low MPA was seen in the younger (7–11 yrs) and high MPA in the older (16+ yrs) musicians. MPA was influenced by gender and the number of performances in the classical music group and only by gender and age in the popular music group. Conclusion: The results showed clear different trends for the development of MPA between musical genres that should be taken into account for educational aspects in musical training.

scholarly journals Self representations and music performance anxiety: A study with professional and amateur musicians

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-805
Author(s):  
Claudia Castiglione ◽  
Alberto Rampullo ◽  
Silvia Cardullo
Keyword(s):  
Music Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Music Performance Anxiety ◽  
Amateur Musicians ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Future Self ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Individual, social and situational factors might play an important role on the experience of anxiety during musical performances. The present research focused on the relationship between self-representations, including musical self, and performance anxiety among a sample of Italian professional and amateur musicians (N = 100; age, M = 23.40, 50% females). We predicted that higher self-discrepancies (actual vs. future self) would be associated with higher performance anxiety in a musical setting (vs. a non musical one), via musical self, and only in professional musicians. The results confirmed our hypothesis. Higher discrepancies between actual and future self-representations were positively associated with higher performance anxiety levels via the musical self only in participants who play instruments at a professional level. Furthermore, musical self influenced performance anxiety levels in a music related setting (i.e., a concert) but not in a non musical one (i.e., an exam).

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