Music Performance Anxiety Flashcards
List some symptoms or signs of music performance anxiety (MPA)
Butterflies in stomach; sweaty palms; negative self-talk; stomach pain; dry mouth; excessive swallowing; shortness of breath; fuzzy thinking; avoidance; giving up
What can a little bit of stress do?
Improve your game, motivating you to practice so you’re sufficiently prepared; rush of adrenaline can sharpen performance
Describe some repercussions of MPA
Feels unfair after all the hard work has been thwarted by fear/discomfort; can limit ability to develop talent & performance charisma; may wonder whether to pursue public performance at all; some decide to play in ensembles rather than solo; some become music educators
What are some of the disciplines interested in MPA?
Sciences (biology, physiology); humanities (literature, history, philosophy); social sciences (sociology, anthropology, psychology)
What general stresses are most performers affected by?
Having to perform under conditions of high adrenalin flow, anxiety, fatigue, social pressure & financial insecurity
Name some famous performers who suffered from MPA
Chopin, Challas, George Harrison, Barabara Streisand & Cat Power
Why are there wide discrepancies (from 16-96%) about the prevalence of MPA?
Definition of MPA; culture in orchestras (don’t want to give competitors psychological advantage); don’t want to show weakness to coaches/instructors; denial
A recent Australian survey asked 357 musicians from all 8 premier state orchestras about their levels of MPA using a 40 item questionnaire. What was reported?
Muscle tension (44%); heart rate pounding in chest (42%); confident they would perform well (43%); level of worry interfered with focus & concentration (37%)
How can MPA be defined?
Experience of marked & persistent anxious apprehension related to musical performance that had arisen through underlying biological &/or psychological vulnerabilities &/or specific anxiety conditioning experiences
What’s a feature of MPA that distinguishes it from other forms of performance anxiety?;
What can create a disastrous positive feedback loop that is common to MPA?
Level of ego-investment involved - training often begins at an early age over many years; process involves a great deal of time in practice & introspection; Compound anxiety (fear of fear)
What is the most commonly cited definition of MPA by Salmon?
The experience of persisting, distressful apprehension about &/or actual impairment of performance skills in a public context, to a degree unwarranted given the individual’s musical aptitude, training & level of preparation
How are symptoms characterised?;
How can MPA worsen?
Autonomic (sweating, racing heart); Psychological (cognitive, emotional); Behavioural (musical timidity, performance avoidance, loss of memory/technical ability);
As the musician experiences, remembers, or imagines the disastrous effects of MPA on quality of performance
According to Dianna Kenny, MPA may be focal (focused only on music performance) or what?
Occur comorbidly with other anxiety disorders, in particular, social phobia
What milestone has occurred in the development of MPA research?
Addition of a new specifier for Social Anxiety Disorder (replacing social phobia) in DSM-5; doesn’t mention MPA specifically but lists musicians among those who suffer from performance anxiety
Low levels of MPA are generally manageable with what?;
The more high risk the performance, the what?;
What has chronic levels of MPA been found to lead to?
Healthy lifestyle (exercise, fresh air, good nutrition, sufficient sleep) & adequate preparation;
Higher levels of MPA are likely to occur;
Unhealthy coping methods
In Kenny’s emotion-based Model of MPA development, what are the first 2 aspects that account for the development of MPA?;
What can the combination of both result in?
Generalised biological/heritable vulnerability (genetic contribution to temperament; high anxiety sensitivity); Generalised psychological vulnerability (sense that life is unpredictable/uncontrollable; negative affect; develops early);
The development of anxious apprehension; sufficient to produce generalised anxiety
What’s the 3rd aspect that accounts for the development of MPA according to Kenny’s model?;
Once anxiety has been triggered, what can happen?
Specific life experiences that establish psychological vulnerabilities (exposure to evaluations in competitive environments; can trigger conscious/unconscious anxiety producing experiences/somatic sensations);
Person moves into a self-evaluative attention state (perceived inadequate coping strategies; catastrophic self statements that disrupt concentration/performance)
In the 3rd stage of Kenny’s model, specific environmental experiences become conditioned in specific situations. This is necessary for what?
The development of non-generalised & specific phobias (i.e. MPA)
Explain how panic attacks are not the same as generalised anxiety
They require the experience of a specific psychological vulnerability when the anxiety becomes associated with internal stimuli (somatic sensations/internal thoughts) or environmental stimuli (social evaluation) - & these stimuli have become associated with heightened threat or danger through conditioning
80% of people with a panic disorder can recall what?;
Name 2 risk factors associated with panic attacks
A negative live event preceding their first panic attack (this can trigger false alarms);
High anxiety sensitivity (biological vulnerability); negative affect (psychological vulnerability)
In the case example of an oboe player, who had completed studies with distinction & began auditions for national/international orchestras, the audition process was impersonal, short in duration with no feedback. What were some of the features of severe MPA that developed?
Sense of unpredictability (anxiety) & uncontrollability (depression); physiological arousal (dry mouth); anxiety evoking situational cues (impersonal assessment & no feedback); attentional shift (away from performance to self); fear of negative evaluation & failure
What are 2 primary approaches to the treatment of MPA?;
What kind of therapy might a psychodynamic therapist formulate for an MPA client?;
What might the focus be on for a cognitive-behavioural therapist?
Management of physical tension & management of maladaptive thoughts;
In terms of a diagnosis of neuroticism, involving features such as perfectionism, self-doubt & a tendency to anticipate negative results;
Based on DSM-V, with emphasis on attention redirection training, relaxation, anxiety management & systematic desensitisation
According to Margaret Osbourne, when does MPA peak in adolescence?;
When does anxiety enhance performance?;
What are some characteristics of success-oriented students?
Around age 15 (associated with poor performance & educational outcomes in music);
When individual skill level matches performance demands of situation; when anxiety is interpreted positively (success-oriented);
Optimistic, proactive & positively orientated to tasks; respond to setbacks & failure with optimism & energy
In Osbourne’s study, 55 girls aged 13.8 learned an instrument for average of 3.9 yrs. What tools were used?;
What was the procedure?
15 item measure of MPA for adolescents & a 44 item measure of motivation & engagement for music learning & performance activities across 6 adaptive & 6 maladaptive cognitive & behavioural dimensions; Experimental group (n=27) undertook program during term 3; control group (n-28) was waitlisted to term 4; 1 hr 15 min sessions weekly for 8 wks after school
