Nearly everyone experiences some level of anxiety daily, from mild cases, such as double-checking that we remembered our phone before leaving the house, to severe ones, like anxiety or panic attacks. Anxiety is a primal emotion, meant to keep us alive and moving in times of danger. In general, a little bit of anxiety day-to-day is healthy. It becomes unhealthy, however, when we generalize our anxiety to non-threatening scenarios, such as standing up for a musical performance. According to the National Institute of Health, Music Performance Anxiety (MPA), which is classified by the DSM-5 as a subtype of Social Anxiety Disorder, affects 60-80% of musicians. MPA is a phenomenon composed of three main components: Cognitions (the individual’s thoughts); Autonomic Arousal (how the body responds); and Behaviors (how the individual responds). My study investigates the relationship between Music Students’ Cognitions during MPA and their overall perspectives on music making.
Past Projects
