Analyzing Music Performance Anxiety Within the Scope of Gender in Pianists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i3.4814Keywords:
music performance, anxiety, piano performanceAbstract
Music performance anxiety, or MPA, is a condition experienced by many musicians in performance where performers are self-critical while performing music. Although previous research has established the need for a high level of specificity in researching this topic due to the wide range of factors that impact this condition, few studies have attempted this high level of specificity by combining the study of MPA with two factors: gender and instrument. Thus, this study sought to investigate how gender affected MPA in one instrumentalist group, pianists, paving the way for more effective solutions for MPA targeting the unique traits of the group investigated. A survey was conducted with a variety of participants across the United States in which varying number scales were utilized across four survey sections; these sections addressed a various number of common MPA symptoms, including both those concerning the physiological aspects of anxiety and the psychological. Findings revealed that the relationship between gender and MPA was significant in pianists across all aspects of anxiety, as females tended to have more anxiety symptoms overall. However, this relationship’s characteristics were only unique to pianists in the physiological aspect of MPA, as contrary to previous studies nonspecific to this instrumentalist group, female pianists were more likely to experience physiological symptoms of MPA. While results yielded about the psychological aspect of anxiety did show significance in the impact of gender, this relationship was similar to those found in other MPA studies nonspecific to pianists.
Downloads
References or Bibliography
Annisa, A. A., & Milyartini, R. (2021). Music Performance Anxiety Among Undergraduates piano majors. https://doi.org/10.31124/advance.14132120
Brooker, E. (2017). Music performance anxiety: A clinical outcome study into the effects of cognitive hypnotherapy and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing in advanced pianists. Psychology of Music, 46(1), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735617703473
Chang-Arana, Á. M., Mavrolampados, A., Thompson, M. R., Pokki, N., & Sams, M. (2022). Exploring the interpersonal level of Music Performance Anxiety: Online Listener’s accuracy in detecting performer anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.838041
Dawson, T. E., & Logan, E. C. (2022). Managing music performance anxiety : A performer's perspective. Open Collections. Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0406377
Edmonson, J. M. (2011, November 30). Differences in music performance anxiety levels between underclassmen and upperclassmen music education undergraduates. Texas Music Education Research. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1102261
Furuya, S., Ishimaru, R., & Nagata, N. (2021). Factors of choking under pressure in musicians. PLoS ONE, 16(1), e0244082. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A647638898/AONE?u=j170902003&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=81ccbfea
Huang, W.-L., & Yu, H. (2022). Social support in university music students’ coping with performance anxiety: people, strategies and performance situations. Music Education Research, 24(1), 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2028752
Iusca, D., & Dafinoiu, I. (2012). Performance anxiety and musical level of undergraduate students in exam situations: The role of gender and musical instrument. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 33, 448–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.161
Kaleńska-Rodzaj, J. (2020). Music performance anxiety and pre-performance emotions in the light of psychology of emotion and emotion regulation. Psychology of Music, 49(6), 1758–1774. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735620961154
Kenny, D. T., & Osborne, M. S. (2006). Music performance anxiety: New insights from Young Musicians. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 2(2), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10053-008-0049-5
Kenny, D., Driscoll, T., & Ackermann, B. (2012). Psychological well-being in professional orchestral musicians in Australia: A descriptive population study. Psychology of Music, 42(2), 210–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612463950
Kim, Y. (2005). Combined treatment of improvisation and desensitization to alleviate music performance anxiety in female college pianists: a pilot study. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 20(1), 17+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A173230531/AONE?u=j170902003&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=d643a563
Kirchner, J. M. (2003). A qualitative inquiry into musical performance anxiety. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 18(2), 78+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A173187272/AONE?u=j170902003&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=318471ec
LeBlanc, Albert (2021) "A Theory of Music Performance Anxiety," Visions of Research in Music Education: Vol. 16 , Article 34.
LeBlanc, A., Jin, Y. C., Obert, M., & Siivola, C. (1997). Effect of Audience on Music Performance Anxiety. Journal of Research in Music Education, 45(3), 480–496. https://doi.org/10.2307/3345541
Lin, Mei-Chuan, "An Investigation Of Music Performance Anxiety In Taiwanese Pianists, Vocalists, String And Wind Instrumentalists At The College Level" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2571. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2571
Logan, E. C. (n.d.). Managing music performance anxiety: A performer’s perspective. UBC Library Open Collection. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/24/1.0406377/3
MacAfee, E., & Comeau, G. (2020). Exploring music performance anxiety, self-efficacy, performance quality, and behavioural anxiety within a self-modelling intervention for Young Musicians. Music Education Research, 22(4), 457–477. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2020.1781074
Matei, R., & Ginsborg, J. (2017). Music performance anxiety in classical musicians – what we know about what works. BJPsych. International, 14(2), 33–35. https://doi.org/10.1192/s2056474000001744
Sokoli, E., Hildebrandt, H., & Gomez, P. (2022). Classical music students’ pre-performance anxiety, catastrophizing, and bodily complaints vary by age, gender, and instrument and predict self-rated performance quality. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.905680
Spahn, C., Krampe, F., & Nusseck, M. (2021). Classifying different types of music performance anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.538535
Sylvia S. Appel, Modifying Solo Performance Anxiety in Adult Pianists, Journal of Music Therapy, Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 1976, Pages 2–16, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/13.1.2
Yoshie, M., Kudo, K., Murakoshi, T., & Ohtsuki, T. (2009). Music performance anxiety in skilled pianists: Effects of social-evaluative performance situation on subjective, autonomic, and electromyographic reactions. Experimental Brain Research, 199(2), 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1979-y
Yoshie, M., Kudo, K., & Ohtsuki, T. (2008). Effects of psychological stress on state anxiety, electromyographic activity, and arpeggio performance in pianists. Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 23(3), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.21091/mppa.2008.3024
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2023 Stephanie Ma
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright holder(s) granted JSR a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distriute & display this article.