Flow is a state of optimal or peak experience, commonly associated with expert and creative performance. Musicians often experience flow during playing, yet the neural mechanisms underlying this elusive state have remained underexplored due to challenges posed by substantial artefacts in the neural data. Here, we bypassed these issues by focusing…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among beat perception, error detection, and musical experience. We presented monophonic rhythms using a piano timbre along with two measures of beat perception (Harvard Beat Finding and Interval Test [BFIT] and Goldsmiths Beat Alignment Test) and a measure of melodic error detection.…

Music performance requires high levels of motor control. Professional musicians use body movements not only to accomplish and help technical efficiency, but to shape expressive interpretation. Here, we recorded motion and audio data of twenty participants performing four musical fragments varying in the degree of technical difficulty to analyze…

The purpose of this study was to examine possible relationships between the extent of high-level violin performers' movement during performance and evaluators' perceptions of their musicality. Stimuli were 10 excerpts of solo violin performances from the 2015 "Tadeusz Wronski International Violin Competition for Solo Violin," selected to…

Music self-efficacy has been acknowledged as a strong predictor of successful performance among musicians and music students, but is less researched among amateur musicians. The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between music self-efficacy and learning and playing habits of amateur musicians who had preferences for online music…

In this study, I examined the relationship between undergraduate music education and nonmusic education majors and their music self-perception, or how they perceived themselves as musicians. A secondary purpose of the research included investigating the relationship between music self-esteem, gender, concentration, year in school, and continued…

The purpose of this study was to examine and empirically test the pedagogical claim that playing the piano while listening to choral singers impedes error detection ability. In a within-subjects design, participants (N = 55 preservice teachers) either listened to four excerpts of choral hymns or played a single part (soprano/bass) on the piano…

This study aims to analyse differences in MPA (Musical Performance Anxiety) in students in five Spanish university-level music conservatories according to instrument type (solo or orchestra) and their academic year of enrolment (AYE). A sample of 476 students with a mean age of 22.59, enrolled in different specialties, responded to the K-MPAI…

Teachers follow a motivational style based on their own beliefs about motivation affected by environmental events. External events such as rules and traditions often affect orientation towards controlling; however, it is not known if events such as training and employment affect the extent to which music teachers try to control a student's…

We examined collective efficacy beliefs, including levels of within-group agreement and correlation with performance quality, of instrumental chamber ensembles (70 musicians, representing 18 ensembles). Participants were drawn from collegiate programs and intensive summer music festivals located in the northwestern and western regions of the…

Over the past three decades, piano learning has witnessed an upsurge in popularity in China. To examine why, between 2016 and 2018 ethnographic fieldwork was conducted among piano teachers, students, and parents of students. Employing the concept of piano pathway, this article tracks the relationship between piano learning and formal schooling and…

This article discusses the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in a mixed methods research design with reference to five recent publications about music in the lives of mature age amateur keyboard players. It explores the links between IPA and the data-gathering methods of "Rivers of Musical Experience",…

The purpose of this study was to explore how highly trained performing musicians, currently working in higher education conservatoires or universities, understand, categorize, and reflect on their identification as a studio music teacher. Using an online survey involving participants (N = 173) across nine western countries, respondents identified…

This literature review examines and synthesizes 30 years of research into the relationship between gender and musical instruments. Specifically, the review focuses on how this relationship affects instrument selection by grade school students entering a school music program. Topics include the gender typing of musical instruments, instrument…

Thirty vocal improviser-educators from Australia (n = 15) and the United States (n = 15) were surveyed for musical background, influences and pedagogical views, and assessed for personality type using the "Myers-Briggs Type Indicator" ("MBTI"). The purpose was to both combine and compare the two groups to identify overall…