Can Music Performance Anxiety Be Helpful? Well, it depends.

by Meghan S. Taylor, February 13, 2020.

As a kid, I remember standing in the batter’s box during softball games with my leg shaking and my mind going a million miles an hour. My performance anxiety debilitated me to the point where I just couldn’t swing the bat during a game even though I had been working so hard during practice to improve. This anxiety translated into my clarinet-playing when I started taking private lessons during my freshman year of college. Even low-stress performances in Studio Class would give me a host of fight or flight symptoms and negative self-talk episodes. Fortunately, I had an incredible teacher who worked with me to learn how to cope with these feelings of music performance anxiety. While I have generally viewed MPA as something that takes away from my performance, there is some debate in the research literature about the potential positive aspects of music performance anxiety. 

Look Who’s Talking

One of the most interesting aspects of the music performance anxiety (MPA) literature is the variability in the definitions, theoretical orientation, and measurement protocols being used to assess this phenomenon. Researchers Brodsky (1996) and Kenny (2005) called attention to this issue in their articles but a recent review of the current MPA literature by Zuhdi and Taylor (2019) reveals that many of these issues still remain in the literature. Zuhdi and Taylor found that the academic background of the authors predicted their perceptions of MPA. Articles written by researchers in health disciplines were more likely to label MPA as merely debilitative while researchers in the music discipline generally recognized both facilitative and debilitative aspects of MPA. As musicians, it is important that we understand these differences in how researchers may view MPA when reading this literature. Professionals in the clinical setting should also consider these viewpoints when treating patients with MPA. 

Why Are These Viewpoints Different? 

A lot of the reasons these viewpoints are different may be due to the occupational setting where these researchers work. Clinical psychologists or others from the health field are likely only going to see patients who need treatment for MPA. Meaning these patients are coming into the clinical setting with MPA symptoms that inhibit their performance. Therefore, publications from the health discipline are more likely to reflect the debilitative aspects of MPA. 

Those in the music discipline have varied perspectives on how MPA impacts their performances. If you’ve ever heard someone talking about getting “The Juice” before a performance they may be referring to some facilitative aspects of MPA that aid in their overall performance. While other performers just have a host of flight or fight symptoms (ie. sweaty palms, butterflies, shaking hands, dry mouth, etc.) that when not well controlled can have a detrimental impact on their ability to perform. When research is conducted in the music discipline, the researchers are more likely to characterize getting “The Juice” and butterflies as opposite ends of the same spectrum of Music Performance Anxiety. 

Facilitative Anxiety vs. Excitement or Arousal

With the similarities between music and athletics, the music community can learn a lot from Sport Psychology about MPA. The debate about whether or not anxiety can have facilitative aspects has been discussed in the Sport Psychology literature. In the mid-1990s, an address from Hardy sparked this debate in the community where he challenged the notion that competitive anxiety was only debilitative and had the potential to facilitate athletic performance. In response, the Sport Psychology community, beginning with a paper by Burton and Naylor (1997) began debating whether the term “facilitative anxiety” was being used to describe other positive emotions such as excitement or arousal. While Sport Psychology has not yet come to an agreement on the use of the term facilitative anxiety, perhaps clarity would be beneficial in the music community so that researchers of all disciplines are able to discuss MPA from similar standpoints. One possible solution could be firming up the use of terms by referring to emotions that negatively impact performance as anxiety while describing positive emotions about performance as excitement or arousal.

I Am Excited!

In fact, simply changing the terminology we use to describe the emotions surrounding a musical performance may impact our perceptions of that event. Brooks (2014) conducted a study where she asked participants to sing karaoke. Before the singing task, the participants were asked how they were feeling and were randomly assigned to say either “I am excited” or “I am anxious.” Not surprisingly, the results of this experiment found that participants who said “I am excited” performed better overall during the karaoke experiment. This simple reappraisal of emotions was able to produce better quality results from the research subjects.

There is a continued need to study the impacts of MPA on musicians so that researchers, health professionals, music educators, and administrators can make appropriate decisions to policy, curriculum, pedagogy, and diagnosis. However, when looking at the literature on MPA that has been produced it is critical that we observe the differences in how the music community and health disciplines are viewing this phenomenon. Looking at the Sport Psychology literature, it may be important to consider broadening the terminology used to describe emotions about performance to include excitement in addition to anxiety. This shift in language has the potential to provide clarity in future research publications but also educate musicians about the power of reappraisal, potentially leading to higher quality performances. 

So, next time you’re sitting backstage for that big audition or performance try thinking about the music performance anxiety you might be experiencing as something that could benefit you by reframing it as excitement! 

Citations: 

Brodsky W. Music performance anxiety reconceptualized: A critique of current research practices and findings. Medical Problems Performing Artists. 1996 Jan 1; 11(3):88-98.

Brooks AW. Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2014 Jun; 143(3):1144.

Burton D, Naylor S. Is anxiety really facilitative? Reaction to the myth that cognitive anxiety always impairs sport performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 1997 Sep 1; 9(2):295-302.

Hardy L. The Coleman Roberts Griffith Address: Three myths about applied consultancy work, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 1997 Feb 14; 9(2):277-294.

Kenny DT. A systematic review of treatments for music performance anxiety. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping. 2005 Sep 1;18(3):183-208. 

Zuhdi N, Taylor M, Chesky K. A Systematic Review of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) Research: Implications for Music Education. PAMA International Symposium Syllabus. 2019; 117-118.

Bio

As a musician-researcher, Meghan Taylor is passionate about helping music educators develop strategies to include health and wellness concepts in their teaching environment. Meghan is currently leading a grant project funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine under award number UG4LM012345. This project serves as a significant step towards preparing music educators in Texas to incorporate health education into ensemble-based instructional activities so that students can learn to deal with the physical and mental demands of music-making from the beginning.

 Meghan is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Music with a concentration in Performing Arts Health at The University of North Texas and conducts research at the Texas Center for Performing Arts Health (TCPAH). During her first year at UNT, Meghan worked with representatives from the TCPAH to publish a booklet titled, "Musician Health: A Primer and Resource Guide," archived on the NNLM Website. This summer Meghan and colleagues were awarded second prize for their epidemiologic research on clarinetists during the International Clarinet Association’s Annual Research Competition. Most recently, Meghan served as a Remote Summer Intern for the College Music Society, helping this organization further develop its Musicians’ Health Webinar Series and marketing strategies.

 To learn more about Meghan and her research visit meghanstaylor.com or follow on