The Causes and Cures of Music Performance Anxiety: A Review of the Literature

Michael Behnke

Department of Music, Towson University

MUED 311

Dr. McCabe

September 16th, 2021

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Abstract

This paper is about how students with music performance anxiety exist all over the world. Re-

search is still being done to determine what causes MPA, who is more susceptible to being af-

fected by it, its reach beyond the classical music setting, and how to cope with it.

Keywords: Music Performance Anxiety, Self-efficacy, Mental wellness.

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The Causes and Cures of Music Performance Anxiety: A Review of the Literature

Introduction

Students need social and emotional support to thrive academically. Music and the fine

arts serve as a way to help students in other academic areas and the primary a large part, or the

only way they can be involved in music is to be in an ensemble that performs. However, when

music performance anxiety (MPA) affects a student so deeply that they would rather not per-

form, there needs tomust be a solution to help with this problem. This is why MPA is so relevant

for music teachers to aware ofconsider. Music performance anxiety is a global issue that affects

the mental wellness and self-efficacy of a musician, and it is a type of social anxiety.

Review of Literature

Teachers need to be able to present MPA support systems for their students so that stu-

dents don't have to deal with struggles on their own. Students shouldn't have to worry about the

opinions of their peers while doing something they enjoy. If teachers can instill a high level of

confidence in their students in any setting of performance, it will hopefully lead to lower levels

of performance anxiety as the students gain more experience.

Environment and the type of audience can be major factors in a student’s level ofr perfor-

mance anxiety. In one study of a group of 5th and 6th grade students, MPA levels were found to

increase when performing in front of an audience of people they recognized (Miles, 2020). Since

the students knoow the people in the audience, they felt like they knoew their expectations and

thus felt more pressure to meet those expectations during the performance. On the other hand, if

the students do not know the people in their audience, they feel more at ease because they only
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have to impress themselves. Being that it is a performance, an inherent aspect of it is being so-

cially aware of the audience and space it is set in. So, by knowing people in the audience, the

stress of meeting expectations can cause a decrease in the mental wellness of the performers.

While much of the research on music performance anxiety is focused on classical music,

there is evidence suggesting jazz musicians suffer from a significant level of MPA.

Anxiety can freeze someone’s ability to function normally. In music, it can affect one’s

air support, posture, focus, and therefore, a total performance. If left unnot treated, MPA can

continue to affect someone’s entire career in music. In the 5 subjects studied by Sutani and

Akutsu (2019), they found that professional musicians suffered from music performance anxiety

and had developed strategies to deal with the symptoms. They found that by practicing more of-

ten, a performer can have the opportunity to focus less on the technical aspects of the piece, and

more on the creative expression they can develop. A study from Brazil also found that the most

commonly used coping methods of MPA were deep breathing, increasing practice, and familiar-

izing oneself with the venue (Burin et al., 2019).

While professional help appears to significantly decrease the symptoms of MPA, many musi-

cians fear the stigma of seeking help. Being a global problem, many musicians also may not have

access to professional help.

If teachers were able to learn professional techniques for dealing with MPA, they might be

able to help the students that suffer from it. They also may be able to spot symptoms sooner and

can help relieve the stress and create positive experiences in performance. One of the newest

methods for teachers to assist students with MPA is called Acceptance and Commitment Coach-

ing (ACC). This involves the training of a teacher using a structured model that can be replicated
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for each student observed. In the research from Shaw, Juncos, and Winter (2020), a student with

high levels of MPA attended six sessions of this program. The results showed an improvement

on the participants ability to accept stress and anxiety, while also removing the negative thoughts

associated with MPA. This study was also significant because it was able to achieve the same re-

sults as previous methods, however, it was achieved in half the number of sessions required.

Conclusion

Summarize the main findings your literature review. Provide closure. Provide implica-

tions for future research and/or for teachers in the music classroom.

References

Begin on a new page. Insert your references from you literature review here. APA 7th edition.