Flow State in Live Music Performance: A Qualitative Study on Musicians’ Stage Experiences

This exploratory qualitative study examines how 32 professional musicians in Turkey described flow during live performance, and the conditions they perceived as facilitating or constraining it. Using a qualitative descriptive design with a phenomenological orientation and maximum-variation sampling, we conducted semi-structured interviews immediately after live sets to obtain performance-proximal accounts rather than implementing real-time experience sampling method (ESM) prompts. Reflexive thematic analysis of the interviews generated five themes: (1) definitions of flow (intense focus, altered time perception, unity with the music, present-centredness, well-being), (2) moments when flow tended to arise (improvisation, emotional or high-energy passages, stage entry), (3) external conditions (audience interaction, group energy, sound/technical reliability, unexpected events), (4) internal conditions (genre affinity, challenge–skill fit, music-theoretical orientation), and (5) perceived effects on performance (technical fluency, automaticity, effortlessness, expressiveness, creativity). Participants’ accounts highlight how flow in Turkish live-music venues is shaped by situated interactions with audiences, ensembles, and stage infrastructures, including genre-specific technical demands (e.g., bağlama performance). Overall, the study provides context-bound, experience-near insight into on-stage flow in contemporary Turkish popular music settings.