The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of male and female children to musical performance anxiety. Twenty-six sixth-grade piano students (11 male, 15 female) performing in a piano recital served as subjects. Boys' and girls' heart rates, behaviour, performance quality, and anxiety levels were examined for possible differences between the genders. It was found that girls had substantially higher heart rates than boys immediately prior to performing, but that this difference was minimal while performing. Significantly more anxious behaviours were noted for both genders prior to performing than during performing, but boys had significantly more anxious behaviours than girls in both cases. Very little difference was noted in boys' anxiety scores (State-trait Anxiety Inventory for Children) between low, medium and high performance quality levels, however girls with moderate performance quality had much higher anxiety than did those with low and high quality performances. As well, girls were found to give significantly higher quality performances than boys. Correlation and regression analyses suggest that the genders respond differently to musical performance anxiety. These analyses were run on the data in three ways: All Children, Boys Only, and Girls Only. It was found that several relationships that emerged in the All Children analysis were driven by a strong relationship in a single gender, but were nearly absent, or in fact opposite, in the other.

Note: / Performance anxiety is a common experience for many musicians, firmly engrained in them by the age of eight. While it has been suggested throughout the literature that this is a learned condition developed during childhood, its appearances in younger children have not yet been studied. The purpose of this study was to document the performance experiences of very young children with respect to performance anxiety.[...] / L'anxiété de performance est vécue par plusieurs musiciens et serait déjà enracinée chez certains apprentis musiciens des l' âge de huit ans. Bien que plusieurs chercheurs considèrent qu'il s'agit la d'un phénomène acquis, se développant pendant l'enfance, ses premières manifestations n'ont jamais été étudiées. L'objectif de cette recherche est donc de documenter l'existence du stress lie a la performance musicale chez les très jeunes enfants.[...]

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Twi major areas concerning the problems of practice are discussed. One is that poor practice often relegates itself to mindless repetition. The second problem is that the student often has a vague definition of piano technique. All technique should be a means of expression, not just an isolated physical exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to understand the nature of practice and to develop a suggested practice routine which incorporates both technical and musical aspects. Two recommendations, strategies toward effective practice and an ideal practice sessions, serve as a practice outline and reference for both piano teacher and student. An appendix presents a collection of the thoughts and viewpoints on practicing from forty-four internationally acclaimed pianists.

This study investigates the perceptions of South African practitioners of Western European Art Music (WEAM), specifically as they relate to the value of WEAM in contemporary South African society. In exploring some of the connections between musical identity and national identity, it sets out to discover what value WEAM holds for a certain group of student pianists. Qualitative empirical data was collected in the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews and questionnaire responses, and the findings point to numerous, nuanced expressions of self and varied intersections of the nation with musical identity in the life of the individual. Further, WEAM appears to represent a crucial point of identification for these individuals, in each case generating positive affirmations of the self.

Judith Butler’s writings on gender ostensibly changed the way gender is considered with regard to an individual’s subjectivity. Her writings expressed a discursive parameter that changed the theoretical standpoint of gender from that of performance, to that of performativity. In short, the notion of gender became understood as a power mechanism operating within society that compels individuals along the heteronormal binary tracts of male or female, man or woman. Within the strata of popular culture, this binarism is seemingly ritualized and repeated, incessantly. This treatise examines how rock music, as a popular and widespread mode of popular music, exemplifies gender binarism through a notable ndrocentrism. The research will examine how gender performativity operates within the taxonomy of rock music, and how the message communicated by rock music becomes translated into a listener’s subjectivity.

Student musicians were recruited to participate in an experimental repeated measures research design study to identify effects of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback training and emotional self-regulation techniques, as recommended by HeartMath® Institute, on music performance anxiety (MPA) and music performance. Fourteen students were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group following a 5 minute unaccompanied baseline performance. Treatment group participants received 4-5 HRV training sessions of 30-50 minutes each. Training included bibliotherapy, using the computerized Freeze-Framer® 2.0 interactive training software, instruction in the Freeze-Frame® and Quick Coherence® techniques of emotional regulation, and also use of an emWave® portable heart rate variability training device for home training. Measures included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Performance Anxiety Inventory (PAI), Flow State Scale (FSS), average heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV). Quade's rank transformed ANCOVA was used to evaluate treatment and no-treatment group comparisons. Combined MPA scores showed statistical significance at p=.05 level with large effect size of eta2=.320. Individual measurements of trait anxiety showed a small effect size of eta2=.001. State anxiety measurement showed statistical significance at the p=.10 level with a large effect size eta2=.291. FSS showed no statistical or effect size difference. PAI showed no statistical significance and a large effect size eta2=.149. HR showed no statistical significance and a large effect size eta2=.143. HRV showed statistical significance at p=.000 level and a large effect size eta2=.698. This study demonstrated practical/clinical significance of a relatively quick and inexpensive biofeedback training that had large effect at decreasing mental, emotional, and physiological symptoms of MPA for university students.

The study investigated the relative effectiveness of different proportions of time spent on physical and mental practice, in the context of a music performance of a tonal pattern over harmonic progressions of two difficulty levels. Using a sampling without replacement procedure, sixty undergraduate students were assigned to four practice groups partially blocked for musical instrument. The groups included a physical practice group, a mental practice group and two combined mental and physical practice groups in the proportions of (a) 66% physical and 33% mental, and (b) 33% physical and 66% mental. Each subject performed a pretest, a 3 minute practice session, and a posttest on both harmonic progressions. Presentation of the harmonic progressions were counterbalanced to control for practice effects All pre- and posttests were recorded and scored according to number of note errors. An ANCOVA procedure using pretest scores as covariates revealed that: (a) there were no differences between the different practice groups on the measure of note errors, (b) there was a significant difference between the two harmonic progressions on the measure of note errors, such that performance on the easy progression was significantly better than performance on the hard progression, and (c) there was a significant interaction between harmonic difficulty level and the practice groups. Post hoc comparisons between the adjusted means of the practice groups on the two tasks revealed that for the mental and the 33:66 combined practice groups, groups consisting of a higher percentage of mental practice, performance on the easy harmonic progression was significantly better than on the hard harmonic progression. However for the physical and the 66:33 combined practice groups, groups consisting of a higher percentage of physical practice, performance on both harmonic progressions was not significantly different and was as good as the performance of all practice groups on the easy task.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a music-assisted relaxation training program as a treatment method for college music students suffering from performance anxiety. A total of 40 participants were randomly assigned to the experimental (n=20) and wait-list control (n=20) groups. The experimental group received six music-assisted relaxation training sessions while the wait-list control group received no contact. Dependent measures included pre- and post-test State Trait Anxiety Inventory (ST AI) scores and heart rate measurements during individual jury examinations (performance condition). Results found no differences in ST AI scores and heart rate measurements between groups. Factors such as years of formal training and memorization of performance showed no differences in dependent measures. The experimental group rated their performance quality as significantly higher than the wait-list control group. All participants who received the relaxation training program felt they benefited from it, and_ found it helpful in feeling more "in control" and "focused on their music" during performances.