Musicians’ Experience in relation to Flow and MPA
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Research Question and Hypothesis
- RQ: How can a performer’s experience with musical performance alter their
perception of achieved flow and overall frequency and severity of MPA (Musical
Performance Anxiety)?
- H: Musical Performance experience can have a direct effect on a performer’s
level of achieved flow and level of MPA.
Key Literature:
- Andrews, N., & Ryan, C. (2009). An Investigation Into the Choral Singer's
Experience of Music Performance Anxiety. Journal of Research in Music
Education, 57(2), 108-126. This study shows that musicians, regardless of
experience, experience some level of MPA before and during performances.
- Biasutti, M., & Urli, G. (2006). Self-report research on Music Performance
Anxiety among Professional musicians and students of music. 9th International
Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, 189-202. This study resembles
how my study is going to be conducted. 12 musicians were interviewed about
their experience and level of MPA. The findings show that all people have
different coping strategies for dealing with MPA and that the audience and
context of the performance can alter the level of MPA.
- Bloom, A., & Shutnick-Henley, P. (2005). Facilitating Flow Experiences Among
Musicians.American Music Teacher, 54(5), 24-28. The results of the study
showed that musicians who experienced flow relied on their self-confidence and
self-trust while playing, desire to experience and express feelings through music,
having experience goals, their ability to maintain focus on the music, and their
ability to play without self-criticism to achieve a state of flow.
Method:
- This study will consist of in-depth interviews with musicians. The reason I chose
to partake in interviews instead of any other method is so that I can personally
interact with the participants and ask them in-depth question about their musical
experiences in relation to MPA and achievement of flow.
Key Terms and Variables:
- Musical Performance Anxiety: According to Sang-Hie (2002), MPA is “ the
vulnerable state in anticipation of performance. This anticipatory anxiety
produces a chain of physiological, behavioral and cognitive reactions. An
awareness of some danger causes fearful thoughts that trigger sweaty palms, dry
mouth or trembling hands, that, in turn, cause behavioral responses such as
missing notes or forgetting words.” (p. 36).
- Flow: According to Bloom and Shutnick-Henley (2005), flow is “a state of
focused absorption-a merging of action and awareness-where consciousness,
mind and body become harmoniously directed, without indecision or anxiety.”
(p. 24).
- Experience (Variable 1): How long has the participant been playing music? How
many performances have they been apart of? Do they play multiple instruments or
just one?
- Level of MPA (Variable 2): How frequent or severely does the participant
experience MPA? Do they experience MPA each and every time they perform?
Musicians’ Experience in relation to Flow and MPA
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Level of achieved flow: How emerged in the performance does the participant
become? Does the participant even feel distracted during a performance?
Participants:
- Participants will be ages 18 years and older. The more diverse the age-range the
better.
- Gender will not matter in this study.
- Ethnicity will not matter in this study.
- 15 participants will be expected to partake in this study.
Procedure:
- This study will use snowball sampling to gather participants.
- I will contact all musicians I know and ask if they know anybody who would be
willing to participate in this study.
- Once the participants agree to participate in the study, a time will be scheduled to
conduct the interview.
- Interviews will be conducted on WSU campus or areas near WSU campus. Some
interviews may have to be done via Skype call.
- The participants will then be read a statement to ensure that they truly want to
participate in this study and be given informed consent forms to fill out.
- The interviews will be conducted.
- Interviews will be recorded on a passcode-protected iPad.
Analysis:
- The findings from this study will be analyzed using thematic analysis. Thematic
analysis is a way for researchers to interpret participants’ self-perceived experience
during an episode, or moment in time. Thematic analysis uses three criteria when
listening to a participant relive their experience. These three criteria are recurrence,
repetition, and forcefulness. Thematic analysis is used by taping or writing down what
the participants say during an interview, word-for-word, and going over the transcript and
trying to make connections between what was said by the participant, and what was
asked by the researcher. I’m going to use this form of analysis to code what the
participants say in relation to my questions and try to understand what their answers
mean, and if I can pick up on any patterns when it comes to them discussing their
experience with musical performances.
Appendix:
- This study will use interviews to yield findings on the research question.
- The interview will take up to 30 minutes to conduct.
- The interview questions will look like this:
o 1) How long have you been playing music?
o 2) What instrument(s) do you play?
o 3) If multiple instruments, how long have you played each individual
instrument?
o 4) When was the last time you participated in a musical performance?
o 5) How often do you participate in musical performances?
o 6) Do you ever get nervous before a performance? If so, how often and
how severe is your anxiety?
o 7) Do you ever get nervous during a performance? If so, how often and
how severe is your anxiety?
Musicians’ Experience in relation to Flow and MPA
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o 8) How does participating in a musical performance differ from and relate
to public speaking?
o 9) Does playing with other people make you less nervous? Why or why
not?
o 10) What leads you to becoming nervous before/during a performance?
o 11) Do you have any coping strategies when it comes to coping with
anxiety before a performance?
o 12) How focused during performances do you feel?
o 13) How distracted do you become during performances?
o 14) Has your participation with musical performances in the past helped
you become more focused during live performances? More distracted?
o 15) Does your anxiety lessen with the more performances you partake in?
Musicians’ Experience in relation to Flow and MPA
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Works Cited
-Everything cited has been used in my lit review, proposal, and for future
investigation and research on my topic.
Amelinck, D., Coussement, P., Leman, M., Lesaffre, M., Moens, B., & Nijs, L. (2012).
Interacting with the Music Paint Machine: Relating the constructs of flow
experience and presence. Interacting with Computers, 24(4), 237-250.
Andrews, N., & Ryan, C. (2009). An investigation into the choral singer's experience of
music performance anxiety. Journal of Research in Music Education, 57(2), 108126.
Biasutti, M., & Urli, G. (2006). Self-report research on music performance anxiety
among professional musicians and students of music. 9th International
Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, 189-202.
Bloom, A., & Shutnick-Henley, P. (2005). Facilitating flow experiences among
musicians.American Music Teacher, 54(5), 24-28.
Boucher, H., & Ryan, C. (2011). Performance stress and the very young
musician. Journal of Research in Music Education, 58(4), 329-345.
Egbert, J., Ghonsooly, B., & Mirlohi, M. (2011). Flow in translation: Exploring optimal
experience for translation trainees. Target: International Journal on Translation
Studies,23(2), 251-271.
Fontenelle, L., Heathers, J., Kemp, A., Outhred, T., & Wells, R. (2012). Matter over
mind: A randomised-controlled trial of single-session biofeedback training on
performance anxiety and heart rate variability in musicians. Plos One, 7(10),
Section p1-Section p1.
Fullagar, C., Knight, P., & Sovern, H. (2013). Challenge/skill balance, flow, and
performance anxiety. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 62(2), 236259.
Jin, A. (2011). 'I feel present. Therefore, I experience flow:' A structural equation
modeling approach to flow and presence in video games. Journal of Broadcasting
& Electronic Media, 55(1), 114-136.
Jin, A. (2012). “Toward integrative models of flow”: Effects of performance, skill,
challenge, playfulness, and presence on flow in video games. Journal of
Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56(2), 169-186.
Larrouy-Maestri, P., & Morsomme, D. (2014). The effects of stress on singing voice
accuracy. Journal of Voice, 28(1), 52-58.
Musicians’ Experience in relation to Flow and MPA
McCroskey, J. C., Beatty, M. J., Kearney, P., & Plax, T. G. (1985). The content validity of the
PRCA‐ 24 as a measure of communication apprehension across communication
contexts. Communication Quarterly, 33(3), 165-173.
Moran, A., O'Connell, M., & Sinnamon, S. (2012). Flow among musicians: Measuring
peak experiences of student performers. Journal of Research in Music
Education, 60(1), 6-25.
Sang-Hie, L. (2002). Musician's performance anxiety and coping strategies. American
Music Teacher, 52(1), 36-36.
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