Whaley, John, Sloboda, John and Gabrielsson, Alf

(2009) Peak experiences in music. In, Susan Hallam,

Ian Cross, and Michael Thaut (eds.) The Oxford
handbook of music psychology (pp.452-461). Oxford:
Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0199298457.

CHAPTER 42

Peak experiences in
music
John Whaley, John Sloboda and AlE Gabrielsson

Introduction
Many people experience intenselypositive affec
tivestates in responseto music.The intensity of
these experiences often brings about a sense of
transcendence and transformation. and their
relative rarity makes them greatly prized in the
minds and lives of the individuals experiencing
them. People tend to retain vivid memories of
such experiences many years after they have
occurred, and they areoften citedasa major rea
son for continued involvement with music (to
increase the chances of such an experience
occurring again: see e.g. Sloboda [2005)). Yet
theseare'everyday' experiences in the sense that
they seem to require no special context in which
to occur. They may occur in the home. while
travelling. in places of workor study. or in the
more specialized contexts ofconcert hallor place
of worship. They may be triggered by any genre
of music. and during both listening and per
formance. Peakexperiences also seem to require
no specific musical training or expertise; they
have been described by young and old, by the
learned and the musically unlettered. Moreover.
theseexperiences arenot conjured by actsof will
or intention-they usually come unannounced
and unexpected-and thus cannot be the sub
ject of skill acquisition or pedagogy.
Maslow (1959) was one of the first to formal
ize the study of what he called Peak Experiences,
or 'moments of highest happiness and fulfil
ment' (1999, p. 85), and 'a spurt in which the
powers of the personcome together in a partic
ularly efficient and intensely enjoyable way'

(1999, p. 106). Maslow spent maoy years study

ing peak. experiences. and his findings laid the

groundwork upon which all peak literature is
built. While his investigations were not limited
to musicaltriggers. he discovered veryearly that
'the two easiest ways of gettingpeak experiences
[are] through music and sex' (1976, p. 169), and

it is upon the former that this chapter is based.

What follows highlights research on the peak

experience. emphasizing literature focusing on

music-specific peaks. After outliningfourstudies
fundamental to the study of peaks in music, a
section will discuss precursors to peaksandpro
posed differences between those who have
achieved peaks and those who have not. A sec
tion on thecognitive. perceptual, emotional, and
physical phenomena associated with peak experi

ences will then be followed by an investigation on

the after-effects of peaks. Next, a section discuss
ing methodologies for the investigation of musi
cal peak experiences highlights the possibilities
and difficulties of this work. Finally, a brief sec
tion summarizes the contentsof the chapter and
looks towards the future of research in this field.

Fundamental peak
experience in music
literature
Four studies represent the empirical backbone
of the study of the musical peak experience. A5
these will be heavily referenced in each subse
quent section. a brief description here of their
methods and findings is helpful.

r
if

Fundamental peak experience in music literature . 453

Maslow coined the term 'peak experience>

after analysing 190 written and 80 oral responses,
having asked participants for descriptions of
the most wonderful experience of your life;
happiest moments, ecstatic moments,
moments of rapture, perhaps from being in
love. or from listening to music, or suddenly
'being hie by a book or painting. or from
some great creative moment.
(1999, p. 83)

.,

The contents of the experiences were individu

ally unique. and in reporting his findings the
author 'added together all the partial responses
to make a "perfect" composite syndrome' (1999.
p. 83). Beyond arguing that music is a reliable
trigger of peak experiences. Maslow describes
many of the phenomena experienced both dur
ing and after the peak, and asserts that: the peak
experience is a self-validating, self-justifying
moment with its own intrinsic value. It fills an
individual with a sense of wonder and awe.
Peaks are never negative, unpleasant, or evil,
and cause a characteristic disorientation of time
, and space as wellas a loss offear, anxiety, doubts,
and inhibitions. Frequently eliciting sudden
feelings of happiness and well-being, peaks also
bring about a heightened sense of an individu
al's physical and 'existential' state of being, a
sort of positive hyper self-awareness. After a
peak the individual may experience a number of
effects, including a more positive view of the
self, other people, and the world, various thera
peutic effects (both physical and mental), even a
sense that life itself is worth living.
In an effort to analyse art-specific peaks,
Panzarella (1980) gathered reports of an 'intense
joyous experience of listening to music or look
ing at visual art' (p. 71) from a poollargely com
posed of musicians and visual artists. Roughly
half of responses were music-related. Content
analysisrevealed 11 response categories that were
factored into four major dimensions of the expe
rience: renewal ecstasy, motor-sensory ecstasy,
withdrawal ecstasy, and fusion-emotional ecstasy:
renewal ecstasy concerned a new or altered per
ception of the world and a desire to engage fur
ther with the artistic medium. Any physical
elements like tears, changed heart rhythms,
chills, or quasi-physical elements like a floating
sensation were categorized as motor-sensory

ecstasy. Withdrawal ecstasy involved a percep

tual narrowing, during which there was a sense
that everything disappeared except the object
(I.e. music or art) and that the object was in per
fect focus. Finally, fusion-emotion ecstasy
referred to a 'fusion' with the medium, like a
sense that the music or pain ting merged and
became 'one' with the individual. Panzarella
(1980) also argues that the peak experience has
three distinct 'temporal stages', beginning with
cognitive responses and loss of self; climaxing
with continued loss of self and motor responses;
and subsiding with emotional responses, [and]
self-transformations' (p. 69). Various precursors
and aftereffects of the 'joyous experience' are
also reported.
Ecstasy was also a central theme in an earlier
study by Laski (1961), who collected 63 inci
dents of 'transcendent ecstasy'. Triggers of such
experiences included childbirth, sex, art, beauty,
science, and religion, though the author con
cludes that 'of all the more common triggers to
ecstasy, music would be the most rewarding to
study in any attempt to find a relation between
the qualities of the triggers and the effects pro
duced' (p. 190). The contents of these episodes
were collapsed into four categories: feelings of
loss (e.g. sense of time, space, self, sorrow), feel
ings of gain (e.g. joy, salvation, perfection, unity
with music or mankind, knowledge), feelings of
ineffability (the experience eludes description or
analysis), and quasi-physical feelings (e.g, peace,
pain, light, heat).
To date, the most comprehensive attempt to
understand exceptional experiences with music
is the Strong Experiences of Music (SEM) project
conducted by Gabrielsson and Lindstrom Wik
(1993,2000,2003). This project makes use of
over 1000free descriptions of strong experiences
in connection with music, collected and content
analysed over more than 10 years. Participants
were asked, in as much detail as they could, to
describe 'the strongest, most intense experience
of music that [they had] ever had' (2003, p.163).
The resulting wealth of data culminated in the
Strong Experiences of Music Descriptive System
(SEM-DS), which lists the most common
attributes of strong experiences in music and
includes seven categories: general characteristics,
physical reactions, perception, cognition. feel
ing/emotion, existential/transcendental, and

454 . CHAPTER 42 Peak expenences in music

personal/social. These attributes, which will be

further discussed on p. 455-7 of this chapter,
provide significant insight into the nature of the
strong experience, what occurs during the expe
rience. Various other publications using SEM
data discuss other aspects of the experience,
including therapeutic after-effects (Gabrielsson
and Lindstrom 1995), emotions (Gabrielsson
2001), experiences reported by old people
(Gabrielsson 2002), and musical triggers
(Gabrielsson 2006).
A note about nomenclature is necessary.
Maslow's (1999) peak experience, Laski's (1961)
ecstasy, Panzarella's (1980) joyous experience,
and Gabrielsson and Lindstrom-Wik's (2003)
strong experience are not identical concepts.
For instance, peak experiences are, by defini
tion, positive, whereas some strong experiences
are negative. In addition, one could argue for a
separation between exceptionalexperiences (like
strong, ecstatic, or joyous) and true peak experi
ences which, thanks.to Maslow, have a slightly
more stringent definition.
Recognizing these inherent problems, we
focus this chapter on 'peak experience in music'
for two reasons: First, the term peak experience
is a recognized term within the broad psycho
logical literature. A term such as joyous experi
ence is not in common use. Second, although
there are negative experiences triggered by
music, we would argue that positive experience
is the most frequent and prototypical case, from
which negative experiences may be considered a
deviation, or a special case. However, we do not
intend to restrict this discussion to any single,
strictly defined term. We recognize the overlap
amongst these terms, and accept the fact that
no single term or definition fully captures the
experience discussed here, be it peak, strong,
optimal, ecstatic, or otherwise.

Precursors and predictors of

the peak experience
Maslow (1976) concluded that 'any experience
of real excellence, of real perfection.... tends to
produce a peak experience', but immediately
and frustratingly added 'though not always'
(p. 17). Peak experience literature is full of such
qualifications, and has shown mixed results with

regard to the demographic, situational, and

musical differences between those who have
achieved peaks (henceforth referred to as 'peak
ers') and those who have not (tnon-peakers').
Maslow stated that only the self-actualized,
i.e. those who had achieved the highest level of
his hierarchy of needs (1943), were capable of
enjoying a peak experience, as it was a 'momen
tary intensification of their general tendency to
apprehend reality more directly and clearly'
(1999, p. 19). Lacking a strict definition of self
actualization, subsequent research identified
some general personality characteristics of peak
ers which include openness, tender-mindedness,
flexibility, an experimental nature, an interest in
creative work and a holistic, interpersonal, and
emotional approach (Masluk 1999; Mathes
1982; McClain and Andrews 1969; Paffard
1970). Peakers appear to display a general will
ingness to explore and experience states of
consciousness differing from their usual states
of being and are 'open' in the broadest sense of
the word (Masluk 1999).
Within music-specific peak literature,
Panzarella (1980) discovered only minor, insig
nificant personality differences between peakers
and non-peakers and argues that 'peak experi
ences represent an unusual mode of functioning
for the individual rather than an intensification
of the person's usual mode of functioning'
(p.85).
Research has also shown mixed results with
regard to the predictive power of demographic
differences between peakers and non-peakers.
Studies comparing the peak reports of various
demographic sample groups have shown that
despite significant differences between groups'
age, gender, education, race, and religion, there
are no significant differences observed in their
descriptions of peak experiences (Allen et al,
1964; Gordon 1985; Yeagle et al. 1989; Lanier
et al. 1996). Nevertheless, some older studies
found significant differences in peak descrip
tions between Caucasians and blacks (Mathis
and McClain 1968), non-psychotics and psy
chotics (Margoshes and Litt 1966), and low and
high verbal abilities (McClain and Andrews
1969).
Research on where a musical peak experience
is most likely to occur has shown a few tenden
cies, though the situational unpredictability

The nature of the peak experience . 455

remains similar to that of personality and demo

graphic differences. Having collected a sample
of experiences with music during childhood,
one study found that peak experiences were
most likely to Occur during relaxed. informal
music listening. while surrounded by positive
social and environmental factors (like friends
and family), and in casual non-evaluative sur
roundings. like listening to the radio (Sloboda
2005). Although this finding is confirmed by
other studies (e.g. Gabrielsson and Lindstrom
Wik 2003), research has yet to systematically
examine the peak-inducing power of various
settings. With regard to music performance,
Gabrielsson and Lindstrom Wik (2003) found
that, despite the large number of musicians in
their sample, over 80 per cent of all SEMwere in
music listening. A survey of performing musi
cians revealed a wide variety of circumstantial
factors in performance-specific peak experi
ences, including perception and involvement
with audience, relationships among band mem
bers. and connection with music being per
formed (Boyd and George-Warren 1992).
With regard to musical genre, Maslow found
that classical music, specifically 'the great clas
sics' (1976, p. 170) were the most reliable trig
ger of peak experiences. Panzarella (1980) and
Laski (1961) also list 'serious/classical music' as
the primary peak-inducing music in their work,
though each indude descriptions of experiences
induced by rock, folk, jazz. and other previ
ously less well-represented genres. A recent
analysis of Gabrielsson's (2006) SEM data pro
duced 15 separate categories/genres, which
included all varieties of classical, folk. and pop
ular pieces.This analysisalso revealed significant
demographic differences between participants
and their triggers, where older participants
were more likely to list classical music and
younger participants more likely to list popular
music.
Do peak-producing musical works have struc
tural or sonic features that predict their ability
to evoke peaks? Very little research has been
undertaken on this topic. In analysing the capac
ity of music to evoke 'chills' (one physical com
ponent of some peak experiences), Sloboda
(1991) discovered that certain musical devices
were statistically associated with the precise
temporal location of a chill. These devices,

including appoggiaturas and syncopations, all

seem to involve violations of listener expect
ancy. His findings confirm those of Gabrielsson
(2006) in that the responses collected were not
specific to anyone musical genre. and were
found in a wide range of genres.

The nature of the peak

experience

I was filled by a special feeling that the music

began to take command of my body. I was
charged in a way. A tremendous feeling of
harmony which made me really enjoy the
music, and I found it difficult to stand still ...
the mystery and power really gripped me.
I was filled by an enormous warmth and
heat. I really swallowed all the notes that
were streaming out in the air, not a single
note, effect or sequence missed my hungry
ears. 1 was captivated by each of the instru
ments and what they had to offer me.
Nothing else existed!
Gabrielsson and Lindstrom Wik
(2003, p. 166)
The research literature contains much data.
exemplified by excerpt above, about the nature
of the peak experience drawn from retrospective
accounts of how it felt while it was happening.
Such accounts demonstrate key features of the
peak: their positivity, their powerfulness, rarity,
non-voluntary nature, and some emotional,
physical, perceptual, and cognitive correlates
(Gabrielsson and Lindstrom-Wik 2003; Maslow
1976). In short, the peak is the antithesis of
mundane. it goes beyond the everyday, and is
not easily forgotten. The peak has even been
called indescribable, and many find their expres
sive palate insufficient to properly elucidate the
experience (Thome 1963;McClain and Andrews
1969). Peaks are somewhat unpredictable; they
are non-volitional and cannot be 'generated'
(Maslow 1976).
Verbal reports provide insights into the sub
jective content of a peak experience, what hap
pens during it. and what it feelslike. There is no
single element a peak: experience must contain
rather there exists a diverse set of elements. each
of which could be said to be indicative or typical.
Gabrielsson and Linstrom Wik (2003) categorize

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456 . CHAPTER 42 Peak experiences in music

these elements into a three-level hierarchy, the

top and most general of which includes seven
categories: general characteristics, physical reac
tions, perceptions, cognitions, feelings/emotions,
existential/transcendental and personal/social
aspects. These categories are proposed as captur
ing the most common elements of the experi
ence.
The following excerpt, taken from Gabrielsson
and Lindstrom (1993, p. 123), is from a wom
an's description of how she experienced
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6, Patherique,
when she listened to it for the first time. Note
the various elements-physical, perceptual,
cognitive, emotional, transcendental and per
sonal/social-in her description:
I have had similar [strong] experiences of
other music but none so terribly deep as
Pathetique. In certain passages it evokes sobs,
and I feel totally crushed. My listening is fully
concentrated, the rest of the world disappears
in a way, and I become merged with the music
or the music with me, it fills me completely.
I also get physical reactions, wet eyes, a breath
ing that gets sobbing in certain passages, a
feeling of crying in my throat and chest.
Trying to find words for the emotion them
selves, I would like to use words as crushed,
shaken, tragedy, maybe death, absorption,
but also tenderness, longing, desire in vain, a
will to live, prayer. The whole experience also
has the character of a total standstill, a kind of
meditative rest, a last definite and absolute
end, after which nothing else can follow.
After the experience I am sort of'gone'-the
people in the foyer and their murmur are at a
distance, like a stage set rather than something
real. I have a hard time trying to talk to them,
to 'get started' and to 'return' to the ordinary
reality. The most difficult part is to talk about
the music experience itself, it is possible only
after a while, when it has faded out a little.
One of my concert friends is very sensitive to
classical music and he too can have wet eyes.
It has happened several times that we are just
standing there, shaking our heads and look
ing down on the floor. Nobody finds any
words, one cannot add anything to what the
music already has told.

Descriptions like these testify to both the

uniquely powerful nature of the strong experi
ence and its ability to include many experiential
elements in a single moment. This woman's
experience is not only physical ('wet eyes ...
breathing.... sobbing'), emotional (ttendemess,
longing'), or perceptual ('the rest of the world dis
appears, and I become merged with the music'),
but all of these, and more. It is these unique but
overlapping elements that Gabrielsson and
Lindstrom wik's (2003) SEM-DS attempts to
categorize, and in what follows these categories
will be elaborated with reference to other
research studies where available.
Physical reactions during the peak experience
may include such physiological responses as
chills/thrills, tears, changes in breathing, heart
rate, and body temperature. Beyond internal
physical manifestations, overt actions range
from closing of the eyes to singing, shouting,
jumping or dancing around. Contrarily, some
people experience total physical immobility, or
a sudden desire to be alone. Finally, included
with physical reactions are a set of quasi-physi
cal reactions, like a sense that the body has been
dissolved into the music or merged with it, or
that the body has actually transcended time or
space, an out-of-body experience.
Some of the physical reactions which typically
accompany peaks also occur in the context of
emotional reactions to music which are less
intense. This is particularly true of chills/thrills
(e.g. Konecni et al. 2006; Panksepp 1995;Sloboda
1991).These are phenomena such as pilo-erection,
'shivers down the spine', tears and lump in the
throat. These phenomena are ubiquitous-in
some people they can occur several times a day,
or even several times within the same piece of
music. On their own they may be of rather little
lasting significance, but when accompanied by
other psychological experiences may become
part of a memorable and significant peak.
Perceptual phenomena during peaks may
include auditory, visual, tactile, kinaesthetic,
synaesthetic, intensified/multimodal percep
tion, and musical perception-cognition ele
ments. The auditory-musical perception may
be accompanied by strong visual impressions,
tension or relaxation of the muscles, or simply
an intensified sense of perception, among
others. Performers, like listeners, frequently

Effects of the peak experience . 457

describe a perceptual sense of being 'embedded'

in the sound (Boyd and George-Warren 1992).
The cognitive category includes elements like
changed attitude. a changed experience of situa
tion, body and mind, time and space, or whole

ness, a loss of control, a changed attitude to

music, a connection to old associations, memo
ries, and thoughts, cognitive imagery, and musi
cal cognition-emotion. Cognitive elements may
relate to some of the more lasting effects of the
experience (further discussed in the next sec
tion) when, for example, an individual achieves

a new understanding of some element in their

life, like a relationship or their appreciation of
the art.

Emotional elements include strong/intense

emotions, both positive and negative emotions,

and mixed emotions. Positive emotions pre

dominate, especially joy and happiness, while

If
Ii

typical low arousal feelings include a sense of

peace and calm, and high arousal feelings
include rapture and euphoria. In addition to the
prototypical positive emotions, there are exam
ples of negative emotions such as loneliness,
sadness, anxiety, or even anger during the expe
rience. Typically such negative feelings are
related to various personal and other circum
stances rather than to the music itself. Mixed
emotions often result from the mix of positive
affect and the negative social or personal cir
cumstances. such as hearing music that reminds
one of a lost loved one. For the majority of peo
ple, however, peaks are accompanied by unusu
ally intense positive emotions.
Existential and transcendental aspects include,
among other things, reflections on human life
and existence, cosmic experience, experience of
other worlds, religious visions, and encounters
with the divine. While these items are easily cat
egorized and listed, their experiential impact
and post-experience implications can be
immense. Many, for example, describe their
peak experience as having resulted in a better
understanding of the human condition, or
offered a glimpse at God, Heaven, or similar
"other worldly' elements.
Finally, personal and social aspects include
elements such as feeling liberated, uplifted or
cleansed, getting new insights, hope, power and
increased self-esteem, and further various thera
peutic effects.

",

Effects of the peak

experience

Maslow (1999) likened the peak to a 'personally

defined Heaven from which the person then

returns to earth. Desirable after-effects of such an
experience, some universal and some individual,
are ... very probable' (pp. 1l(l-1l1) and discov
ered that Some "after-effects may be permanent.
[though] the high moment itself is not' (p. 14).
His analysis ofpeak reports revealed seven broad
categories of after effects, not all of which result
from every experience. These categories are sup
ported by a later peak experience literature (Frick
1982; Lanier et at. 1996; Warmoth 1965).
In relation to music, Panzarella (1980) reported
that 90 per cent of participants attributed long
lasting, often permanent, effects to their peaks.
Through his analysis, he derived a list that closely
resembles Maslow's (1999) and includes:
1 General appreciation of music or visual art
2 Altering of self-appreciation
3 Altering of relationships with other people
4 Altering of attitudes toward life or world in
general
5 Increased aesthetic sensitivity
6 Enhanced perception of everyday reality
7 Long-lasting mood effects.
The first element, "general appreciation of
music or visual art', is notably absent from pre
vious lists of after-effects, including Maslow's
(1999). Participants in this study who achieved
joyous experiences through either art or music
emerged with a renewed appreciation for the
medium. A similar study found that participants
reported a desire to continue pursuing music
either as a hobby or profession, and a desire to
continue listening and engaging with music
(Gabrielsson and Lindstrom Wik 2003).
Gabrielsson and Lindstrom (1995) document
the ability of strong experiences to elicit positive
therapeutic effects. Having analysed hundreds
of SEM reports, the authors mention therapeu
tic implications including: relief from physical
pain, grief, and depression, a release of personal
and social barriers, increased self-confidence
and sense of one's ego, even a total reorientation
of one's attitude and value system. This report,

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458 . CHAPTER 42 Peak experiences in music

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the most specific and thorough of its kind, pro

vides substantial music-specific evidence of one
of Maslow's original effects.
A final after-effect that warrants discussion is
the desire to continue pursuing peaks. Research
has shown that peak experiences in music. par
ticularly in early childhood, have long-lasting
effects on the likelihood of engagement with
music (Sloboda 2005). Having collected
descriptions of experiences with music before
age ten, Sloboda (2005) found that positive
experiences early in life were likely to spur con
tinued involvement in music or. in other words,
continued peak-seeking behaviour. Similar
behaviour has been observed in adult music
performers, who demonstrate a desire to repeat
the strong feelings they experience while per
forming, so much so that a survey of pop and
rock musicians uncovered a tendency to turn to
drugs to induce the same feelings (Boyd and
George-Warren 1992). Interestingly, veteran
skydivers showed similar peak-seeking ration
ale for their continued desire to engage in their
work (Lipscombe 1999), which suggests that
peaks are of great consequence to the continued
pursuit of both professions.
Despite the preceding evidence in support of
Maslow's (1999) list of after-effects. there is a
significant methodological pitfall in peak
research, namely the attempt to measure an
effect without a baseline. As a result of the
unpredictability of the peak, it is hard to estab
lish any independent. pre-peak data. Thus
when a study discovers a 'more positive view'
or an 'altered perception', these are derived
from retrospective comparisons provided in
the narratives of participants. One method for
overcoming this limitation would be testing a
large number of people who all attend the same
musical event, monitoring experience before,
during, and after. This would permit statistical
comparison of pre and post-experience scores
among peakers. This approach is currently
being pursued by two of the current authors.
In conclusion, existing research provides evi
dence that music-related peak experiences have
meaningful after-effects. and that most people
who experience peaks report such effects
(Ebersole 1972). The fact that reports in
Gabrielsson and Lindstrom Wik (2003) contain
all of Maslow's (1999) and Panzarella's (1980)

after effects further supports this conclusion.

The effects of the musical peak experience, it
seems, do not end after the fleeting moment,
but carry on in the lives of the peaker.

Methodology
The majority of the music-related peak experi
ence literature is based on what Sloboda (2005)
calls the 'autobiographical memory technique',
which he finds both 'rich and workable'(p. 188).
Relying on participants' memories for these
significant moments, researchers using this
technique simply ask participants to produce
narratives about experiences with music. The
prompt can be as simple as asking participants
to describe 'the ... most intense experience of
music that you have ever had' (Gabrielsson and
Lindstrom Wik 2003, p. 163). or more generic
like that used by Maslow (1999), who asked
participants to describe 'the most wonderful
experience of [their Iivesj'(p. 83). Variations on
these prompts are found in numerous articles
(Laski 1961; Panzarella 1980; Lanier et al. 1996;
Minassian et a12003; Sloboda 2005).
The autobiographical memory technique is
not. however. without its methodologicallimi
tations. There is some doubt about participants'
ability to recall specific details about an experi
ence, particularly when recall is many years after
the episode. There are also disclosure issues,
as strong verbal and expressive skills are critical
to describing the experience (Thorne 1963;
McClain and Andrews 1969). This could mean
that many potential peakers, including children,
are expressively incapable of describing their
peak experiences. Finally. the qualitative meth
ods of this technique afford somewhat limited
quantitative analyses.
As a response to the latter. peak experience
researchers have developed hybrid methodolo
gies which combine the autobiographical
memory technique with a set of quantitative
methods. After asking participants to freely
'describe one incident in your life characterized
by highest happiness'. the Experience
Questionnaire (Privette 1.983, 1984; Privette
and Bundrick 1987) presents a series of 42
Likert-scale questions and five scaled descrip
tions of the peak experience. to which partici
pants rate their agreement. Reliability of this

Conclusions . 459

technique is well within reasonable limits

(Privette and Sherry 1986), and the quantita

tive data produced permits more aggressive

statistical analyses.
This method has been successfully applied to

music-specific experiences. Participants in

Gabrielsson and Lindstrom Wik (2003) not only
produced free descriptions of their strong expe
riences but also rated how well their reactions
corresponded with a large set of statements on
strong experiences with music. Across partici
pants, statements indicating positive feelings and
other salient characteristics in SEM (e.g. absorp
tion, confirmation. transcendence) received high
ratings. whereas statements indicating negative

feelings received low ratings. Factor analysis

revealed up to 14 factors accounting for 64 per
cent of the total variance. Most of these factors

corresponded to (and thus confirmed) various

categories in the SEM-DS. though there were
also factors revealing co-occurrence of different
categories (e.g, one factor included transcendent
state. perfection, peace and happiness, healing
experience), which may be difficult using solely
content analysis of free descriptions. Notable,
however, is the fact that these 14 factors fail to
account for over one-third of the total vari
ance-a testament to the extremely multifaceted
character of SEM. Nevertheless, using these
hybrid qualitative/quantitative methods, this
study is able to collect bias-free, ecologically
valid narratives and use quantitative techniques
to test for the presence of correlated elements.
For further discussion, see Gabrielsson and
Lindstrom Wik (2003, p. 186 onwards).
Despite the benefits of these newer tech
niques, the ability to derive sound conclusions
from qualitative data should not be underesti
mated. In his autobiographical memory
research, for instance, Sloboda (2005) coded
qualitative statements for the presence or
absence of certain situational elements. These
included internal significance (where the signif
icance of the event was attributed to some factor
internal to the music-such as a particular
sound event or quality) and external signifi
cance (where the significance was attributed to
some factor external to the music-such as the
social context). Analysis showed a statistically
significant relationship between internal and
external significance. There were no cases of

,
i

internal significance when the external signifi

cance was negative. This qualitative data thus
clearly reveals something about the necessary
conditions for a peak.
In sum. the study of musical peak experience
poses substantial methodological challenges
which require empirical ingenuity to overcome.
Progress is likely to be furthered by a broader
combination of qualitative and quantitative
methods. Such progress should never blind us.
however, to the fact that a full appreciation of
peak experiences requires us to keep hold of the
uniqueness and unrepeatability of each individ
ual experience. Such uniqueness is not 'irrele
vant noise' to be filtered out of analyses, but is a
core component of what makes these experi
ences what they are.

Conclusions
Musical peak experiences are a significant com
ponent of the lives of many people. They are
powerful, valued, have lasting effects, and-for
some-are a reason for continued engagement
with music. They involve elements of life that
could be described as transcendent, transforma
tional, even spiritual. Indeed. it is perhaps no
coincidence that music has been such an essen
tial part of many religious traditions and rituals,
aimed at encouraging various states of 'uplift',
be they contemplative or ecstatic (e.g. Becker
2001). Nonetheless, psychology rightly and nec
essarily concentrates on the inner characteristics
of such experiences rather than their wider
social and cultural meanings.
The research reviewed in this chapter shows
that, despite significant methodological difficul
ties and a relatively small literature, a number of
facts about the musical peak experience are
known with some certainty:
Not all individuals are equally prone to peak
experiences. Some elements of personality
(specifically flexibility and openness) seem
to encourage these experiences. On the other
hand, demographic factors such as age, gen
der, and education seem to be oflittJe impor
tance.
2 All types and genres of music can engender
peaks, though perception of aesthetic value
seems important.

'i'

Ii


460

3 Many different settings and environmental

circumstances can be found in descriptions
of peaks, including both formal and informal
music listening and performance.
4 Peaks contain strong and distinctive percep
tual, cognitive, physical, and emotional com
ponents which make them highly salient to
the person experiencing them.
S Peaks are often remembered, and ascribed
causal significance for various after-effects,
long after their occurrence.
Relative to other areas of musk psychology
(e.g. cognition/perception, developmental top
ics), the study of peaks has not attracted as large
a body of research. As a result, the topic has not
benefited to the full extent from recent meth
odological developments in the field, for
instance, the use of multivariate statistical meth
ods, or innovative experience-sampling meth
ods. With such methods, it should be possible
to make progress on some of the unanswered
questions in the field, such as whether there are
distinct syndromes within the larger pheno
menon, and whether specificenabling conditions
can be more precisely characterized, thus poten
tially helping people to find their way more reli
ably to these high-value and life-enhancing
experiences.

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