Meditation as a tool to counteract music performance anxiety from the experts’ perspective

Music performance anxiety (MPA) prevents many musicians from performing at their best, and meditation is one coping tool. This qualitative study explored experts' experiences with meditative techniques for MPA through 16 semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis identified three main themes: how experts describe MPA, factors influencing meditation's effectiveness, and which techniques reduce MPA. Body-centered meditations, breathing techniques, visualizations, and Vipassana meditation were prominent. Affect-centered meditations showed promise for counteracting perfectionism and self-criticism. Findings may help educational institutions and musicians seeking emotional awareness and self-regulation strategies to improve performance.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Music performance anxiety (MPA) affects numerous musicians, preventing them from performing to the full extent of their abilities. A variety of tools are used to cope with MPA among which is meditation. Although research conducted to date has made a distinction between the types of meditative techniques and their effects, this aspect is still not thoroughly investigated. The aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the experience of specialists in the field and identify the meditations employed for counteracting MPA. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were held with experts; recordings and transcripts were verified multiple times and imported into NVivo software. Thematic analysis was conducted, developing three main themes which illustrate how the experts describe MPA, the influencing factors for the effectiveness of meditation, the employed meditative techniques and how they reduce MPA. Within the last theme, body-centered meditations and breathing techniques, along with visualizations and Vipassana meditation, occupy a prominent place. Results show furthermore that affect-centered meditations offer interesting perspectives for counteracting perfectionism and self-criticism. The findings of this study may be of interest to educational institutions and musicians who want to acquire emotional awareness, self-regulation strategies for counteracting MPA, and improving performance skills.