AUTHOR=Passarotto Edoardo , Worschech Florian , Altenmüller Eckart 

TITLE=The effects of anxiety on practice behaviors and performance quality in expert pianists

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152900

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152900

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=During their career, musicians need to undergo intense periods of training to master musical 
instruments and become accomplished artists. Dysfunctional practice behaviors and anxiety are 
often mentioned among the possible risk factors for playing-related injuries in musicians. 
However, the mechanism through which these might lead to the onset of these injuries is still 
unclear. The present study aims at overcoming this limitation by exploring the relationship 
between practice behaviors and anxiety: it investigates whether anxious musicians practice 
longer, employ more repetitions and improve at a slower pace than their less anxious colleagues. 
The experiment consisted in monitoring practice behaviors in 30 pianists practicing a short 
musical task. 
Most self-report anxiety measurements were positively correlated with practice time, especially 
those collected right before the practice sessions. Similar correlations were identified between 
anxiety and the number of repetitions of the musical task. Physiological markers of anxiety were 
only weakly related to practice behaviors. Subsequent analyses showed that anxiety impaired 
performance quality but did not affect the rate at which participants improved in the experiment. 
Moreover, anxiety and performance quality co-developed during practice sessions, showing that 
pianists who improved their playing were also less anxious in the latter part of the experiment. 
These findings suggest that anxious musicians are likely at higher risk of developing playing-related injuries related to overuse and repetitive strains. Future directions and clinical 
implications are discussed.