Musical Performance Anxiety: A Review of Literature

Educators and scholars have long debatedissues related to musical performance anxiety, with concern for its effects on the qual-ity of performance experience. Symptoms such as increased heart rate, sweating, and dry mouth contribute to stress and make the physical act of playing an instrument or singing very diffi-cult, if not impossible (Goode, 2004). Steptoe (1982) indicated that the physical systems nec-essary for musical performance are also those likely to be negatively affected by musical per-formance anxiety. Anxiety often occurs in anticipation of a performance, in which anx-ious thoughts surface in a musician’s mind. “An awareness of some danger causes fearful thoughts that trigger sweaty palms, dry mouth