Exploring violin students’ experiences of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention for combating music performance anxiety

Abstract

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a problem common to musicians around the world. Given the ubiquity of MPA, musicians have a need for interventions to combat maladaptive MPA. The primary aim of the study was to explore mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction (MMBSR) as a treatment for MPA in three university-level violin students by means of an intervention. The study followed a qualitative research approach and was designed as a multiple-instrumental case study which assumed elements of a quasi-experimental research approach. The sample included three university-level violin performance majors and a MMBSR intervention was executed with guided meditation courses on the Headspace smartphone application. The study was carried out in three phases and data collection consisted of two one-on-one semi-structured interviews with each participant, as well as solicited diary entries from the participants during the nine weeks in which the intervention took place. The data was analysed through the process of thematic content analysis (TCA). The main finding of this research suggests that MMBSR may be a promising treatment for MPA by facilitating increased levels of focus, mental alertness, and the sense of being present in every moment free from distraction or judgment, which may decrease student violinists’ MPA during performance.