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Mindfulness meditation: creative musical performance through awareness

Sheri Oyan

March 27, 2006 DOI: 10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.3922 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper
Topics Meditation
Citations 10
Key points Argues that mindfulness meditation can help musicians cope with performance anxiety by increasing awareness and acceptance of present-moment experiences, both during daily life and on stage.

Abstract

Musicians spend countless hours practicing their instruments over the course of a lifetime. These hours are primarily spent learning how to manipulate the instrument through scale studies, etudes, and repertoire. However, despite intense and diligent effort, many musicians find themselves unable to perform for an audience without some kind of interruption in creativity in the form of mental and/or physical distractions. The symptoms of such distractions can include heart palpitations, muscle tension, shaking, feelings of fear and panic, and an inability to focus on the task at hand. The presence of these symptoms, typically referred to as “performance anxiety,” is, to some extent, common among performers of all ability levels. The literature on performance anxiety is extensive, and suggests a wide range of coping strategies. Although many of these techniques are effective to some degree, they do not typically address the problem of how to cope with anxiety during the performance, which is the key to being creative and free of distractions in the performance. I think the practice of mindfulness meditation can be effective in coping with performance anxiety, both on and off stage. In its simplest form, mindfulness meditation can be practiced in everyday activities, such as walking or washing the dishes. Thich Nhat Hanh, a well-known Buddhist monk and author of several books on meditation, describes the practice of mindfulness as being aware of what one is doing while doing it. By being more aware in all aspects of our lives, we can better deal with both the physical and mental distractions that occur onstage. Though musicians recognize performance anxiety as something that happens during performance, the anxiety (and how one deals with it) is not limited to just the performance, but is linked to everything else in one’s life. The practice of mindfulness may be one way of learning to feel and accept what is happening in the present moment, and ultimately we may be able to apply that attitude to performance.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. 2004 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Mechanisms of mindfulness 2005 Theoretical or philosophical paper
How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective 2011 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression 2006 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness 2012 Theoretical or philosophical paper

Citations in the library

Cited by 6

and 1 more in the library

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Meditation Anxiety Buddhism