Symptoms of Music Performance Anxiety in Front of the Jury

Abstract

State anxiety refers to the emotions perceived in consciousness, tension, and the concept of worry that can change over time. In other words, it is temporary anxiety experienced in a particular situation. For example, the anxiety experienced during an important exam or while giving a solo recital is state anxiety. In this study, the state anxiety levels of music teacher candidates during their individual musical performances were examined. Observation and interview technique, one of the qualitative research designs, was used as a method in the research. The data used in the research were obtained from observations and interviews with a total of 108 students in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades of undergraduate education in two music education departments. While the behaviours of the students during the midterm and final exams regarding individual instrument lessons were observed, semi-structured open-ended questions were asked simultaneously, just before and after the exams, and their views on their anxiety levels were obtained. The obtained data were statistically analyzed with qualitative data analysis and presented in the findings section. The results showed that the state anxiety experienced by the students mostly negatively affects their performance and academic achievement. In particular, physical negativities that could cause health problems were determined in students who showed high anxiety behaviour.

Keywords

• Music education
• music performance anxiety
• music psychology
• state anxiety