Music Performance Anxiety: Perceived Causes and Coping Strategies

Abstract

IntroductionThe understanding of the causes of music performance anxiety (MPA) and of strategies to cope with it is important for the comprehension/management of this common condition in musicians.ObjectiveTo investigate the causes of MPA reported by Brazilian musicians and the efficacy of the most commonly used strategies to cope with it.MethodsTwo hundred and fourteen Brazilian musicians (53% professional/musicians from orchestras, 67% male, mean age: 34.02 years, 65% with over 11 years of education, 42% of which played string instruments) completed different self-rating scales to assess the presence/absence of MPA.ResultsThirty-nine per cent of the musicians had indicators of MPA. The most commonly reported causes were repertoire difficulty (57%), concerns about audience response (52%), and self-pressure (51%). The most common coping techniques included breathing/relaxing techniques (66%) and increased practice (53%), regarded as efficient by at least 49% of the musicians. Strategies like seeing a doctor/psychiatrist/psychologist and taking antidepressant/anxiolytic medication were among the least frequently used in the sample. Also, 18% of musicians with MPA used beta-blockers and 6% used non-prescribed medications. Comparatively, musicians with MPA believed that it was associated with a higher number of conditions and regarded coping techniques as less efficient.ConclusionMusicians consider internal situations to be the most frequent causes of MPA and use different coping strategies with average effectiveness. Results highlight the poor use of well-established therapeutic resources and the occurrence of self-medication in the sample, which together point to the need for attention on the part of mental health professionals to this specific group.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Music performance anxiety and the Italian sport psychology S.F.E.R.A. model: An explorative study on 77 professional musicians

“…Moreover, the response “seeking help from a psychologist or psychotherapist” occurred as frequently as “discuss about anxiety with a music teacher,” (see Supplemental Appendix 1): this suggests that musicians often distrust professional clinicians, in favor of more accessible but less reliable sources of knowledge (Carey & Grant, 2014), thus feeding the “Pedagogical Inertia” and promoting educational traditions based on “teaching as we were taught” principles (Pecen et al, 2016; Shulman, 2005). Interestingly, 17% of the participants used anxiolytic drugs to cope with MPA, in accordance with the recent literature (Burin et al, 2019; Engelke & Ewell, 2011; Farzam & Jan, 2022; Osório et al, 2017).…”

Conservatory Students’ Music Performance Anxiety and Educational Expectations: A Qualitative Study

“…In this study, participants used physical and cognitive coping strategies for MPA, but they had no field-specific, theoretical knowledge about them. Even so, students' breathing exercises, self-suggestion, and medication paralleled results by Osório et al (2017) and Kenny et al (2014). However, such efforts may vary depending on factors like individual predisposition and conditions (Biasutti & Concina, 2014;Coşkun-Şentürk & Çırakoğlu, 2018).…”

“…Many studies address psychological, physiological, and behavioral symptoms of MPA (Fernholz et al, 2019;Kenny. & Ackermann, 2015;McGinnis & Milling, 2005;Osório, Burin, Nirenberg, & Barbar, 2017;Taborsky, 2007). Papageorgi.…”

Materiais Educativos E O Contexto Pandêmico

“…A APM pode definir-se como a experiência recorrente e angustiante de um estado de apreensão e tensão por parte do músico, quando este se apresenta em situação de performance e/ou durante o processo de preparação, podendo ou não impedir ou prejudicar o seu desempenho e é independentemente da aptidão do indivíduo, da qualidade do seu estudo ou da sua preparação musical [1,6,10,11,14,15].…”