TY - JOUR
T1 - “A Bed of Nails”
T2 - Professional Musicians’ Accounts of the Experience of Performance Anxiety From a Phenomenological Perspective
AU - Papageorgi, Ioulia
AU - Welch, Graham F.
N1 - Funding Information:
The ?Investigating Musical Performance (IMP): Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning? research project was based in four UK centres of higher education: London, Glasgow, Leeds, and York. The investigators were Graham F. Welch, Celia Duffy, Anthony Whyton and John Potter, with Ioulia Papageorgi, Andrea Creech, Elizabeth Haddon, Fran Morton, and Christophe de Bezenac. Funding. This work was supported by a grant received from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom, grant reference RES-139-25-0101.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Papageorgi and Welch.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11/12
Y1 - 2020/11/12
N2 - Most investigations of musical performance anxiety have employed quantitative methodologies. Whereas such methodologies can provide useful insights into the measurable aspects of the experience in a larger group of participants, the complexity, subtlety and individuality of the emotional experience and the importance of the individual’s interpretation of it are often overlooked. This study employed a phenomenological approach to investigate the lived, subjective experience of performance anxiety, as described in professional musicians’ narratives. Semi-structured interviews with four professional musicians (two males, two females) specializing in Western classical and jazz music genres were conducted and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The analysis revealed the presence of four overarching themes: (1) Intensity of performance anxiety experience, (2) perceived effects, (3) development of coping strategies, and (4) achieving release from anxiety. Findings suggest that the lived experience of performance anxiety is multifaceted, characterized by a physical and a psychological dimension. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is a useful research tool that can facilitate our understanding of the subjective experience of performance anxiety (how it is felt and understood at an individual level) and can thus be useful in the development of tailor-made intervention programs for musicians.
AB - Most investigations of musical performance anxiety have employed quantitative methodologies. Whereas such methodologies can provide useful insights into the measurable aspects of the experience in a larger group of participants, the complexity, subtlety and individuality of the emotional experience and the importance of the individual’s interpretation of it are often overlooked. This study employed a phenomenological approach to investigate the lived, subjective experience of performance anxiety, as described in professional musicians’ narratives. Semi-structured interviews with four professional musicians (two males, two females) specializing in Western classical and jazz music genres were conducted and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The analysis revealed the presence of four overarching themes: (1) Intensity of performance anxiety experience, (2) perceived effects, (3) development of coping strategies, and (4) achieving release from anxiety. Findings suggest that the lived experience of performance anxiety is multifaceted, characterized by a physical and a psychological dimension. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is a useful research tool that can facilitate our understanding of the subjective experience of performance anxiety (how it is felt and understood at an individual level) and can thus be useful in the development of tailor-made intervention programs for musicians.
KW - Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
KW - lived experience
KW - music performance anxiety
KW - professional musicians
KW - semi-structured interviews
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096636080&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.605422
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.605422
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096636080
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 605422
ER -