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Physical Activity Helps to Control Music Performance Anxiety

Article  in  Medical problems of performing artists · June 2014

DOI: 10.21091/mppa.2014.2022 · Source: PubMed

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 Brief Report

Physical Activity Helps to Control

Music Performance Anxiety
Sérgio de Figueiredo Rocha, PhD,1,2 Moacir Marocolo, PhD,3 Elisangela Naves Vivas Corrêa, BSc,1
Gledys Sympool Gomes Morato, BSc,1 and Gustavo Ribeiro da Mota, PhD3

We evaluated if regular physical activity could influence musi-
cal performance anxiety (MPA) in college music students.
Levels of MPA, as measured with the Kenny MPA Inventory,
and a survey about the physical activity habits were obtained
from 87 students of music. The results showed that physically
active musicians had lower MPA scores (p<0.05) than non-
active ones, independent of gender. We conclude that there is
an association between physical activity and minor MPA, and
studies with a longitudinal design should be done to explore
this important issue. Med Probl Perform Art 2014; 29(2):xx–xx.
M usical performance requires a high level of skill in
various parameters such as motor coordination,
attention/memory, and emotional parameters,1 making it
susceptible to anxiety states2 termed music performance
anxiety (MPA). MPA is common among musicians.3 On
the other hand, physical activity is associated with better
anxiety levels.4 However, the effects of physical activity
have not been verified on MPA. Thus, we evaluated if
physical activity practice could influence the levels of
MPA.
METHODS AND RESULTS
Eight-seven graduate music school students (54 males,
26.4±1.9 yrs; and 33 females, 25.5±1.6 yrs) participated vol-
untarily this study. None of them had any history of dis-
eases that could affect the results, and all met the following
criteria: (i) at least 2 yrs of music experience; (ii) engaged in
a local or national orchestra; and (iii) studying music in a
higher education degree. This research was approved by
From the 1Department of Sciences of Physical Education and Health and
2
Department of Music, Federal University of São João del Rei, São João
del Rei, MG; and the 3Postgraduate Program in Physical Education and
Sports, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, MG,
Brazil.
<AU: pls note any funding>
Address correspondence to: Dr. Gustavo Ribeiro da Mota, Department
of Sport Sciences, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Av Tutunas,
490, 38061-500 Uberaba - MG, Brazil. Tel +55 34 3318 5504.
grmotta@gmail.com.
© 2014 Science & Medicine. www.sciandmed.com/mppa.
the local ethics committee. <AU: pls state if university ethic
committee or other>
Each subject answered two questionnaires on 2 different
days (24 hrs apart), in random order, at the same time each
day (10:00 to 12:00 hr), at 25±2° C. Both questionnaires
were applied by the same trained research. A questionnaire
to assess physical activity (PA) habits and the Kenny MPA
Inventory (K-MPAI) questionnaire2,5 were applied. The PA
survey aimed to verify the current levels of practice of PA,
defined as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal
muscles that require energy expenditure above rest condi-
tions.” Furthermore, to be included in the “physically
active” group, the volunteers should be engaged in any
kind of PA at least three times and 150 min/week.
For statistical analysis, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
was applied to assess the probability distributions. Means
were compared by the paired Student t-test and the signif-
icance level was set at p<0.05.
From evaluation of the completed questionnaires, we
found that musicians who were physically active showed
lower K-MPAI scores (p<0.05) related to their MPA than
non-active musicians (Fig. 1), independent of gender.
DISCUSSION
Our main find is that regular physical activity (PA) helps
musicians to control their MPA better. If MPA is common
among musicians3 before their concerts or performances,
an active lifestyle should be encouraged to help reduce the
MPA. To our knowledge, this is the first report to test the
association between regular PA practice and MPA.
The questionnaire we used to measure MPA was vali-
dated specifically in musicians,5 which gives credibility to
our results, as using a general tool to assess anxiety would
not be proper for musicians. Anxiety has been clearly
related with decreases in human performance in general
population and also in musicians.2 In contrast, PA has
been recommended to improve performance in several
activities through control of psychological disorders.4 In
this sense, our study is in line with others that showed that
PA can decrease or control anxiety in different popula-
tions.4 Nevertheless, up to now, no study has tested the
effect of PA on MPA.

94 Medical Problems of Performing Artists


Active Inactive
FIGURE 1. Physically active musicians (black bars) showed
lower (*p<0.05) scores for MPA than their inactive counter-
parts (white bars). Data are mean ± SD.
Three interactive factors participate in MPA: cognition,
autonomic modulation, and behavioral responses.6 More-
over, anxiety is primarily a psychophysiological event,
where the autonomic nervous system initiates and main-
tains MPA.6 Because anxiety may harm performance,
some musicians frequently use b-adrenergic-blocking
agents aiming to improve their performance.7 Oppositely,
PA reduces the effect of epinephrine on the cardiovascular
system8 and also can improve cognition.9 Thus, we can
explain, at least in part, that PA modulates two of three
independent factors related with anxiety.
View publication stats
In conclusion, we believe that regular physical activity
can help musicians to control better their MPA before con-
certs, and others studies with a longitudinal design should
be done to address this important issue.
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3. Kenny DT. Music performance anxiety: origins, phenomenology,
assessment and treatment. J Mus Res 2006. <AU: pls give volume
and page nos>
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June 2014 95