Exploring the thoughts and attentional focus of music students under pressure

Abstract

Musicians often play under circumstance in which pressure may lead to anxiety and performance deterioration. Theories suggest that a drop in performance is due to a shift in focus of attention towards task-irrelevant information. In this study we asked music students to report what they think and where they focus attention in three situations: when they play under pressure (Study 1; n = 81), the moment just before choking under pressure and when they try to recover after a mistake (Study 2; n = 25). Focus of attention was examined using retrospective verbal reports and point-spread distributions. Besides a notable focus on music-related information (36.9%), music students reported a considerable number of worries and disturbing thoughts (26.1%) during playing under pressure (Study 1). Just before choking, they showed even more worries and disturbing thoughts (46.4%) at the cost of music-related focus (21.1%) (Study 2), as also confirmed by the point-spread distributions. During recovery after a mistake, attention was mainly focused on music-related information (53.0%) and less on thoughts that give confidence (18.5%) and physical aspects (16.6%). It is advisable to help music students with improving their performance, for example, by attentional control training or providing training with elevated levels of anxiety.

“It's Your Problem. Deal with It.” Performers' Experiences of Psychological Challenges in Music

“…Reflecting the importance of the aforementioned psychosocial skills as key determinants of success, it is important to examine the coping behaviors and sources of support utilized by performers of different levels of expertise. For instance, given that some research suggests that there may be qualitative differences between pre-elites and expert performers with regards to focus during performance (Buma et al, 2015 ; Oudejans et al, 2017 ), it is relevant to examine the coping experiences of this cohort across the performance pathway.…”

Respiratory Variability, Sighing, Anxiety, and Breathing Symptoms in Low- and High-Anxious Music Students Before and After Performing

“…Musicians report to focus on breathing frequently and to have respirationrelated thoughts (e.g. "Breathe out") when playing under pressure (Buma et al, 2015;Oudejans et al, 2017). Focus on physical aspects, including breathing, is rated important by the musicians to maintain a high level of performance (Buma et al, 2015).…”

A Process Evaluation of a Performance Psychology Intervention for Transitioning Elite and Elite Musicians

“…Furthermore, studies using expert ratings of music performance, found that skilled musicians adopting an external focus of attention are generally rated higher on expressiveness and perceived musical ability (Van Zijl and Luck, 2013;Mornell and Wulf, 2019). Finally, research has demonstrated that increased pressure (e.g., during important performances) can lead to a shift in attentional focus toward irrelevant stimuli (e.g., worrying thoughts; Buma et al, 2015;Oudejans et al, 2017). As such, adopting an external focus can also enhance performance in pressure situations, by directing attention to more task-relevant stimuli (Bell and Hardy, 2009;Williams, 2019).…”

“…However, it has been argued that psychological interventions overly focus on decreasing performance anxiety and addressing its symptoms -which might not always be realistic nor desirable. As such, these interventions often fail to address how optimal focus of attention, functioning, and performance under pressure might be facilitated (Pecen et al, 2016;Oudejans et al, 2017;Cohen and Bodner, 2019). Furthermore, to develop expertise, musicians have to engage in thousands of hours of deliberate practice (i.e., effortful, focused, goal-directed) (Ericsson and Harwell, 2019).…”