Most research on musical performance anxiety has focused on musicians coming from a classical background, and performance anxiety experiences of musicians outside the western classical genre remain under-researched. The aim of this study was to investigate perceived performance anxiety experiences in undergraduate and professional musicians and to explore whether musical genre specialization (Western classical, jazz, popular, Scottish traditional) affected musicians’ performance anxiety experiences. The study addressed questions exploring the perceived intensity of performance anxiety, the perceived contributing factors, changes in perceived anxiety levels as performances approached (one hour before, immediately before and during performance) and the perceived impact of performance on the quality of performance. Participants were 244 musicians, 170 undergraduates and 74 portfolio career musicians. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Findings suggested that performance anxiety was of concern for a significant majority of undergraduate and professional musicians. Musicians from all participating musical genres shared similar perceptions and concerns. Anxiety appeared to have negative connotations, although it was also reported as beneficial. Solo performance generated more anxiety compared to group performance. Overall, the impact of anxiety on performance was related to its perceived severity during performance, and was mediated by musicians’ performance experience and their general susceptibility to anxiety. The musical genre in which participants specialized affected their perceived anxiety levels. Western classical musicians were generally found to report higher levels of performance anxiety. This study has provided indications that musicians specializing in different musical genres may experience performance anxiety in quantitatively and qualitatively different ways. Further research would benefit from investigating factors contributing to these variations.

Most research on musical performance anxiety has considered this in relation to the internal characteristics of the performer, the extent of their preparedness for the performance, and factors in the immediate performing environment. The approach to its alleviation has generally been clinical in nature. Little research has been situated within an explicit overarching conceptual framework. This article proposes a theoretical framework that portrays anxiety within a musical performance context as a process that has an explicit time dimension (pre-, during- and post-performance). The model illustrates the likely processes that occur once a performer agrees to participate in a particular performance and explains how these might give rise to either maladaptive or adaptive forms of performance anxiety. The potential longer-term effects on the performer are also discussed. A detailed description of the model and the theories behind its development is followed by a consideration of model's implications and potential usefulness for both research and education.

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There is a growing body of neurological, cognitive, and social psychological research to suggest the possibility of positive transfer effects from structured musical engagement. In particular, there is evidence to suggest that engagement in musical activities may impact on social inclusion (sense of self and of being socially integrated). Tackling social exclusion and promoting social inclusion are common concerns internationally, such as in the UK and the EC, and there are many diverse Government ministries and agencies globally that see the arts in general and music in particular as a key means by which social needs can be addressed. As part of a wider evaluation of a national, Government-sponsored music education initiative for Primary-aged children in England (“Sing Up”), opportunity was taken by the authors, at the request of the funders, to assess any possible relationship between (a) children's developing singing behavior and development and (b) their social inclusion (sense of self and of being socially integrated). Subsequently, it was possible to match data from n = 6087 participants, drawn from the final 3 years of data collection (2008–2011), in terms of each child's individually assessed singing ability (based on their singing behavior of two well-known songs to create a “normalized singing score”) and their written responses to a specially-designed questionnaire that included a set of statements related to children's sense of being socially included to which the children indicated their level of agreement on a seven-point Likert scale. Data analyses suggested that the higher the normalized singing development rating, the more positive the child's self-concept and sense of being socially included, irrespective of singer age, sex and ethnicity.

Vocal sound is one of the defining features of humanity. Its commonality, plurality, and development distinguish the species. Within the wide range of sounds that humans make with their voices, there are two constellations that commonly have the greatest socio-cultural significance. These are categorized as speech and singing, but there is potential (and actual) significant overlap between the two, because both sets of behaviours are generated from the same anatomical and physiological structures and initiated/interpreted by dedicated neuropsychobiological networks whose development and function are shaped by cultural experience. Our predisposition to perceive particular vocal sounds as singing or speech is dependent on the dominant acoustic features. Perception begins when the sensory system is stimulated by acoustic information that is filtered according to principles of perceptual organization which group the sounds together according to key features, such as pitch range, temporal proximity, similarity of timbre, and harmonic relationships. Perception is contextualized by the listener's age, family, community membership, enculturation, and the development of the vocalizer. The first few months of life, for example, are often characterized by vocal play ('euphonic cooing', Papousek [H], 1996) in which the growing infant's vocalizations could be interpreted as musical glissandi as well as the precursors of prosody in speech. Such categorical perceptions of vocal sound as being either 'musical' or 'speech(like)', however, are a product of the layers of enculturation that inform our socially constructed interpretations. To the developing infant, any such distinction is relatively meaningless, because speech and singing have a common ontogeny. As far as sound production is concerned, infant vocal behaviours are constrained by the limited structures and behavioural possibilities of the developing vocal system (cf. Kent and Vorperian 1995). The first vocalizations are related to the communication of an affective state, initially discomfort and distress (crying), followed by sounds of comfort Neuropsychobiological perspectives Technological advances in brain imaging over the past decade have provided valuable insights into the neural basis for a variety of cognitive and affective MUSICAL COMMUNICATION 242 Vocal folds Larynx A ir f lo w Lateral view of head and neck Top-down view of the larynx and vocal folds Vocal tract Fig. 11.1 Anatomical structure of the singing voice.

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This article addresses the question of whether higher education music courses adequately prepare young musicians for the critical transition from music undergraduate to professional. Thematic analyses of interviews with 27 undergraduate and portfolio career musicians representing four musical genres were compared. The evidence suggests that the process of transition into professional life for musicians across the four focus genres may be facilitated when higher education experiences include mentoring that continues after graduation, the development of strong multi-genre peer networks, the provision of many and varied performance opportunities and support for developing self-discipline and autonomy in relation to the acquisition of musical expertise. Implications for higher education curricula are discussed.

The Investigating Musical Performance: Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning research project was devised to investigate how classical, popular, jazz and Scottish traditional musicians deepen and develop their learning about performance in undergraduate, postgraduate and wider music community contexts. The aim of this paper is to explore the findings relating to attitudes towards the importance of musical skills, the relevance of musical activities and the nature of musical expertise. Questionnaire data obtained from the first phase of data collection (n=244) produced evidence of differences and similarities between classical and non-classical musicians. While classical musicians emphasized the drive to excel musically and technically and prioritized notation-based skills and analytical skills, non-classical musicians attached greater importance to memorising and improvising. Regardless of genre, the musicians all considered practical activities such as practising, rehearsing, taking lessons and giving performances to be relevant. However, whilst classical musicians attached greater relevance to giving lessons and solo performances, their non-classical colleagues considered making music for fun and listening to music within their own genre to be more relevant. Some underlying processes that may have accounted for the differences in attitudes are explored, including musical influences, age of initial engagement with music and educational background. Points of similarity and differences are discussed, and possibilities for the two musical trajectories to inform and learn from each other are highlighted.