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.
Özalp et al. (Tue,) studied this question.