Understanding performance anxiety in the adolescent musician

Research in musical performance anxiety so far has mainly focused on adult professional musicians. Additionally, studies have mostly maintained a `clinical approach' to musical performance anxiety, focusing on the diagnosis, assessment and treatment of maladaptive performance anxiety and its effects on selected groups of musicians. The aim of this thesis was to fill some of these gaps by exploring the experience of musical performance anxiety from the perspective of adolescent musicians. 410 students aged 12-19, all attending junior conservatoires and / or youth orchestras in the UK and Cyprus, responded to a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire dealt with a range of learning and performance issues and yielded both quantitative and qualitative data. Performance anxiety was measured with the Adolescent Musicians' Performance Anxiety Scale (AMPAS), designed specifically for the needs of this study. Results revealed that performance anxiety was an issue for a significant percentage of students. Differences in performance anxiety level intensity were related to nationality and gender, but not to age. Susceptibility to experiencing performance anxiety, task efficacy and quality of performance environment were important factors in determining the intensity of experienced performance anxiety. Performance anxiety was found to be a multi-faceted construct, influenced by a variety of factors relating to self-perceptions, situational parameters, identity and culture, and family environment. Student attainment was influenced by performance anxiety. Achievement of higher Grades was related to the experience of higher levels of performance anxiety and perceptions of receiving positive feedback were associated with lower perceived levels of anxiety. Performance anxiety influenced students' approaches to instrumental learning and performance, particularly in terms of susceptibility to maladaptive performance anxiety and negative perceptions of the impact of anxiety. Three types of students were identified in the data, each possessing different characteristics and experiencing anxiety and physiological arousal in musical performance in a distinctive way

Singing and Social Identity in Young Children

A range of studies suggest that singing activities with young children can have a beneficial impact on other aspects of their development. However, there is little research examining the relationship between young children’s singing and their developing social identity. In the current study, data were captured of young children’s singing and social identity as part of a larger-scale, longitudinal evaluation of the nationwide Sing Up programme in England. Participants were 720 children aged 5-8 years old. The assessment of young children’s singing ability employed an established measure and was undertaken individually. With adult support, the children were also asked to complete a simple questionnaire that focused on selected aspects of their social identity, both in general terms and also related to singing. Key themes embraced their attitudes to singing (at home, in school and in informal settings), singer identity (emotional engagement with singing and self-concept), and perceptions of self (self-efficacy, self-esteem, social integration). Comparative data were collected from young children of a similar age outside the programme. Findings suggested that the programme had a positive impact on children’s singing ability, both overall and including the youngest children. The data analyses suggest that children could be identified as either “pupils with positive singing identity” or “pupils with less positive, or still developing singing identity.” Overall, pupils with a more positive singer identity—irrespective of Sing Up-related experience—tended to report more positive attitudes toward singing at school and other settings, had higher perceived levels of self-esteem and social integration, as well as more positive evaluations of their singing ability. Furthermore, the research suggests that successful participation in high-quality singing activities is likely to have a positive impact on young children’s singing ability and, by implication, such positive singing development will also be associated with aspects of self that are related to contexualised singer identity and their sense of social inclusion

Researching the Impact of the National Singing Programme 'Sing Up' in England : Diverse Approaches to Successful Singing in Primary Settings

This report presents findings from research carried out with seven Chorister Outreach Projects from Cathedrals across England as part of the Choir School Association's Chorister Outreach Programme (COP). In total, data were collected from fifteen Primary Schools working with these Chorister Outreach Projects. This data set was supplemented by similar teaching and learning of singing data from an additional five (non-COP) Primary Schools who were working with aspects of the SingUp Programme. In total, 48 singing sessions were observed, of which 28 (58.3%) were in COP schools and 20 (41.7%) in non-COP schools. Overall, the observation data on learning and teaching of singing within and outside the COP school sessions demonstrate that high 'quality' experiences can be found in any school context, whether urban or rural, with older or younger children, ethnically diverse or not, and whether led by musical specialists or generalists

The National Singing Programme for primary schools in England: an initial baseline study

The ‘Sing Up’ National Singing Programme for Primary schools in England was launched in November 2007 under the UK Government’s ‘Music Manifesto’. ‘Sing Up’ is a four-year programme whose overall aim is to raise the status of singing and increase opportunities for children throughout the country to enjoy singing as part of their everyday lives, in and out of school. As part of the Programme’s research evaluation, a key focus has been to build an initial picture of singing in Primary schools across England. This information could then be used as a ‘baseline’ by which the programme’s subsequent impact could be judged, including ‘before’ and ‘after’ measures of schools that receive particular ‘Sing Up’ input. This paper reports an overview of key outcomes of first five months of baseline profiling (October, 2007 to February 2008), embracing analyses of the singing behaviours of 3,472 children in 76 Primary schools. These findings are complimented by additional analyses of children’s views on singing in and out of school; and the self-efficacy of their class teachers’ (n=90), both as singers and as teachers of singing

Investigating musical performance: Commonality and diversity amongst classical and non-classical musicians

The research project 'Investigating Musical Performance: Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning' 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 emphasised the drive to excel musically and technically and prioritised 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, while 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

From music student to professional: the process of transition

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. © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Perceptions and predictions of expertise in advanced musical learners

The aim of this article was to compare musicians' views on (a) the importance of musical skills and (b) the nature of expertise. Data were obtained from a specially devised web-based questionnaire completed by advanced musicians representing four musical genres (classical, popular, jazz, Scottish traditional) and varying degrees of professional musical experience (tertiary education music students, portfolio career musicians). Comparisons were made across musical genres (classical vs. other-than-classical), gender, age and professional status (student musicians vs. portfolio career musicians). Musicians' 'ideal' versus 'perceived' levels of musical skills and expertise were also compared and factors predicting musicians' self-reported level of skills and expertise were investigated. Findings suggest that the perception of expertise in advanced musical learners is a complex phenomenon that relates to each of four key variables (gender, age, musical genre and professional experience). The study also shows that discrepancies between advanced musicians' ideal and self-assessed levels of musical skills and expertise are closely related to gender and professional experience. Finally, characteristics that predict and account for variability in musicians' views and attitudes regarding musical expertise and self-assessments of personal expertise levels are highlighted. Results are viewed in the context of music learning and implications for music education are discussed