the ultimate performance

7/26/2019 The Ultimate Performance

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The Ultimate performance

Floor Le Coultre,

Violin,

c011989,31-10-13

Main subject teacher: Ilona Sie Dhian Ho

Researchcoaches: Patrick van Deurzen and Philip Curtis

Format: Research Paper


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Index

$ Introduction p.3

$

Ultimate performance p.4

$ Definition of Music performance anxiety p.6

$ Methods p.8

$ Brains p.9

$ Concentration in sports R. Nideffer p.11

$ Circles p.13

$

Performance based approach p.14$ Survey p.19

$ Experiences p.21

$ Conclusion p.26

$ Bibliography p.27


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Introduction

I as a musician love music. And I love to give my emotions to the audience. But I dont like

the fact that Im sometimes distracted on stage by intern thoughts. Insecure thoughts about

my ability to perform the way are expected by me or by the audience. Sometimes Im

distracted from the music because I need my focus to control my body. There can come toomuch tension in my body and all I focus on is loosen it up during the performance.

I already know for sure that Im not the only one who wishes to be more in the performance.Listening to stories about performance experiences from my colleagues made me aware of a

general similarity.

I have experienced performances where Im totally absorbed in the music. I actually stopped

thinking and was just playing I hope by owning more information about the psychology

behind music performance, I get more tools to work on my ultimate performance.

After making contact with prof. Jane Ginsborg (contact of Philip Curtis) from the Royal

Northern College of Music in Manchester I got in touch with a PHD student of her, Anna. I

asked them about books and articles written about the psychology of the performance. There

is a huge amount of literature. Especially the last 10-20 years Music performance anxiety hastaken a great interest under psychologists. Research to help athletes or businessmen hasdeveloped in an earlier stage already. It was also interesting to read books/articles about sport

psychology. It made me aware that the focus athletes need to perform is very comparable to

the focus musicians need on stage.

The articles and books have given me very valuable information. I have now a much better

overview to show other musicians what distractions (from being in the music) there can be

and how on stage you can learn to control these distractions to get back into the music (or to

get into the flow of the music).

In this research I first would like to discuss the ultimate performance. My research question

is: How to obtain the ultimate performance?But what is the ultimate performance? For me its the flow of the music that makes me stop

thinking about anything. Its described by the American/Hungarian psychologist

Csikszentmihalyi1as being in the flow state. But how do my colleagues experience the

ultimate performance? And what happens to them when they are not having their ultimate

performance?

A lot of research has been done in explaining what can be the causes and consequences when

the musician feels the pressure of the expectations to perform. Psychologists have invented

many therapies to help the people who have obtained an anxiety to go on stage. DiannaKenny has put attention also on the performance-based approach, which I would like to use in

this research. Martine van der Loo and Liesbeth Citroen exposed also very useful tips tomaster your body and mental strength before during and after a concert.

Martine van der Loo is a well-known mental coach for musicians, based in The Hague. 29th

of November I had a very nice talk with her way of working with musicians who need and

want to improve their anxiety to go on stage.

Wieke Karsten, flute teacher in the school, knows a lot about the function of the brains and

how the brain influence practicing and performing. Ive included some of her ideas as well.

Finally I will show methods by Dianna Kenny and Martine van der Loo/Citroen and

experiences from colleagues and myself by using a survey.

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The Ultimate Performance

How do I obtain the ultimate performance?

Remember the feeling of you being on stage, in total control of your instrument, feeling

the music very intensively and being able to give more and more to the audience justyou and the music Csikszentmihalyi (1985) has introduced the term flow state which he

has described as an intrinsically motivated experience or self-rewarding activity. A statein which the individual is so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.

When an individual is in a flow state, there is a loss of awareness of time. When an

individual is in the flow state, attention is focused almost exclusively on internal thought

processes. The normal shifting of attention between external to an internal focus has been

dramatically reduced.2

To achieve a state of complete clarity and purpose, even euphoria, through the capacity to

concentrate intensely. It entails the capacity to shut out irrelevant stimuli and focus at

great depth on the task at hand, often causing a person to lose the normal sense of timeand self in which one is both actor and observer. Csikszentmihalyi believes the pleasure

deriving from the flow state has an autonomous reality that must be understood on its own

terms. Measurements of brain activity during flow states suggest that the flow may induce

a special neurological state that is associated with a decrease in cortical activity (Pruett,

1987)

To be in a flow on stage can be the ultimate performance experience for a musician.

Achieving the ultimate performance includes a capacity or intense focus on the required

motor performance that precludes distractions or intrusions, and the capacity to reproducea maximal level of performance consistently under a wide range of environmental

contingencies, for example, from practice to a competitive event. Milton (Americanpsychiatrist) and his colleagues found a significant decrease in the overall volume of brain

activation accompanied by a relative increase in the intensity of activation of specific

brain regions necessary for the execution of the task by experts. The quality of

performance was due to the level of organization of neural networks during motor

planning.3

Besides the focus to the required motor performance, it is necessary to have the right

amount of arousal. Too little causes lack of interest and therefor the difficulty to put

effort. Too much arousal gives you a strong physiological reaction. This will draw awayyour attention that needs to be put in the music. Its necessary to reach the right amount of

arousal. This is called facilitating performance anxiety.

4

If the organization in the brain is interrupted by intern or extern distractions, your focus

on the execution of the task diminishes. Reasons for interruptions of your focus can be

the pressure to give the perfect performance.

#Getting into the optimal Performance state by Robert m. Nideffer ph.D

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This can result in the explicit monitoring theoryor the distraction theory

Explicit monitoring theorypostulates that with pressure, the performer focuses attention

on the step-by-step processes in an attempt to execute the task correctly (Baumeister,

1984; Masters, 1992). While such explicit focus of attention is necessary in the initial

stages of learning (Anderson, 1982), once the skill becomes proceduralized, a musiciancannot consciously attend to all notes and finger positions when performing in real time.

Attempts to monitor these processes may disrupt the automaticity of task performance .5

According to the Distraction theory(Wine, 1971; Eysenck, 1979, 1992) performancedegradation is a result of attentional shifts to task-irrelevant information. In music

performance, examples of task-irrelevant information include: fear of forgetting the noteswhen playing from memory, fear of not being able to play a difficult passage, or fear of

public failure and subsequent shame. Task-irrelevant information is said to reduce the

amount of working memory available for task performance. Thats why playing by

memory is more likely to be affected by pressure than tasks that are performed more

intuitively or automatically (Maddox & Ashby, 2004)26

These two theories give information to realize what can hinder you from obtaining your

ultimate performance.

Recently (past 10/20 years) more research had been done to music performance anxiety.Dianna Kenny wrote a very extensively book about music performance anxiety. Dianna

Kenny draws on a range of disciplines including psychology, philosophy,

phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and performance theory in order to explain the many

facets of music performance anxiety that have emerged in the empirical and clinical

literature.

Music performance anxiety needs to be explained, since the term music performance

anxiety is quite extensive. For my research it is important to understand the differencebetween the severe form of music performance anxiety and nervousness what I believe to

be very normal and even necessary for musicians.

NPerformance degration under pressure in music: an examination of attentional processes:catherine y.wan and gail f. Huon (2005)

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Music Performance Anxiety

The experience of anxiety is no stranger to the majority of people whose brief is toperform in front of others. In many ways, as Shakespeare asserts, life itself is a

performance- all the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players-

but for some, center stage or center court is a threatening and frightening place to be, andplaying ones part is made difficult by the experience of unwanted emotions, thoughts

and behaviors.(Dianna Kenny)

There are several features that are typical of people who express their anxiety. First, there

is catastrophic thinking (one mistake means the end of the world), then post-performance

rumination (it takes a long time or never? to recover from a performance with which the

performer was not happy); next, unrealistic goal-setting and extreme perfectionism;

finally, an inability to take please or comfort in the positive aspects of the performance.7

The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)does not attempt to

differentiate between performance anxiety, stage fright and shyness in social situations.Mild music performance anxiety does not need to interfere negatively with performance.

Many musicians even think they need a little anxiety to facilitate their performance

(Kirchner, 2003).

Wolfe (1989) noted that music performance anxiety can have both positive and negative

effects on performance. He identified two adaptive and two maladaptive components of

music performance anxiety. The adaptive components are arousal/intensity and

confidence/competence. The maladaptive components are nervousness/apprehension

(fear) and self-consciousness/distractibility.The articles Ive explored are mainly focused on the performance anxiety which is

described by Salmon (1990) as:

The experience of persisting, distressful apprehension about and/or actual impairment of,

performance skills in a public context, to a degree unwarranted given the individuals

aptitude, training, and level of preparation.8

Dianna Kenny doesnt agree with this definition. She thinks this definition lacks

precision concerning to a degree unwarranted given the individuals aptitude, training,

and level of preparation. Research shows that musicians of all ages, levels of aptitude,

training, experience, and preparation report music performance anxiety. (Kenny, p.49).She writes:

Music performance anxiety is the experience of marked and persistent anxiousapprehension related to musical performance that has arisen through underlying

biological and/or psychological vulnerabilities and/or specific anxiety-conditioning

experiences. It is manifested through combinations of affective, cognitive, somatic, and

behavioral symptoms. It may occur in a range of performance settings, but is usually

more severe in settings involving high ego investment, evaluative threat (audience), and

fear of failure. It may be focal (which means, focused only on music performance), or

occur comorbidly with other anxiety disorders, in particular social phobia. It affects

musicians across the lifespan and is at least partially independent of years of training,

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practice, and level of musical accomplishment. It may or may not impair the quality of

the musical performance (Kenny, 2009, )9

In this definition music performance anxiety can be seen as a definition that can be

applied to nervousness, which has a positive effect on the performance, and the severe

anxiety that leads to total blocking and horrible experiences on stage.The book Podiumangst by Van Der Loo and Citroen states that the difference between

music performance anxiety and nervousness is the period when there is the anxiety. Its

resp. before and especially on stage or just the moments before you go on stage10

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Methods

Many researches have been done in developing treatments for the pressure that causesMusic Performance Anxiety.

Recently there has been a significant increase in research involving the treatment of musicperformance anxiety. Music performance anxiety is considered to need a different kind of

approach in comparison to social phobia.11The treatments can be grouped into seven

areas according to the type of treatment approaches:

1) Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic Therapies

2) Behavior, cognitive, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

3) New wave cognitive behavioral therapies

4) Multimodal therapies

5) Other interventions for music performance anxiety

6) Emotion-based therapies

7) Pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders

As I stated in the chapter about music performance anxiety, there are different forms in which

a musician is affected by music performance anxiety. As for this research my goal is to find away to the ultimate performance. The treatments described above are very intense and

psychological. Its very personal to choose which treatment fits your needs to your personal

goal.

For me its essential to pay attention to the performers key goal: the quality of there

performance.

Several methods are performance based and ideal for the performer to work on by him/herself

or with a teacher/coach.

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Brains

Before I start with giving an overview of the performance based-approach, I would like firstto show the function of the brains and two theories about the focus necessary to give the

ultimate performance. Ill describe the model by sport psychologist Robert Nideffer in his

book: psyched to win. Secondly the circles invented by H.Eberspcher and adapted byWieke Karsten.

The brain can be split into three areas. 1.) the instinctive 2) the emotional 3) the cognitive

brain.

1) The first area in the brain is called the brainstem. It controls your instincts, reflexes,

and elementary brain functions (like breathing and heart-rate).

2) The second part of the brain is called limbic system. It creates our emotions like: joy,

sadness, anger, enjoyment, jealousy etc. Emotional experiences that happen frequently

are stored in this area. Having a great experience on stage will be remembered. Alsothe repeated bad experiences

3) The third area is called the cerebral cortex and allows people to develop self reflexion

and the possibility to choose appropriate behavior. It coordinates the activity in the

emotional part and makes sure we can separate our emotions and thoughts.

Consciousness is part of this area.

There is continuously interaction between the three parts. However it isnt always harmonious

interplay. Every part can take over control.

Control of the first area: we react instinctively, without overseeing the consequences.

Control of the second area: we react impulsive and led by emotions, without knowing the

influences from our emotions.


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Control of the third area: possibility to control our emotions. We can get stuck in the

windmills of our mind.

Every experience will be stored temporarily. A core in the second area (amygdala) connectsevery experience to an emotion. If the first area senses danger, cortisol (an hormone) will

encourage amygdala to connect this danger to a very strong emotion so it will be stored

forever.12

Going on stage is linked to a dangerous situation. Our body will react very strong. Increased

Heart rate, sweaty hands, cold hands etc. This reaction is called FFF (fight, flight, fright). 13

To deal with this reaction is a key to the ultimate performance.

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Model of R. Nideffer:

Robert Nideffer is a sport psychologist who developed a model (1976) for athletes to control

the focus to create a peak performance.

Its been shown that optimal performance can be facilitated through focus and concentration.What does it mean to be focused? Concentration is the ability to direct ones full attention to

appropriate cues and stay focused on task in the present instead of being controlled byirrelevant external (i.e. crowd, game conditions, etc.) or internal (i.e. thoughts, emotions,

physiological activity, etc.) stimuli. During any given competition there are numerousirrelevant cues that surround players and directing their attention through their own efforts

will enable them to perform to their potential.

The four types of attentional focus

Broad-internal focus (left bottom)

Think, plan and analyze

Broad-external focus (left top)

Balance the situation

Narrow- internal focus (right bottom)

Rehearse a performance before you actually engage in it.

Narrow-external focus (right top)

The Focus when you attempt to perform.


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In addition to maintaining focus, athletes must effectively shift attention during performance.

There are four different types of attentional focus to shift from: broad-external, broad-internal,

narrow-external, and narrow-internal. A broad attentional focus allows a person to perceive

several occurrences simultaneously while a narrow attentional focus occurs when you respond

to only one or two cues. In addition, an external focus directs attention outward to an object

while internal attentional focus is directed inward to thoughts and feelings. Athletes gothrough each of these four attentional styles multiple times in executing a golf shot for

example. However, under stress and pressure, we tend to skip some of these styles leading topoor performance. In summary, an athlete can benefit from increased awareness regarding

focus and concentration in every aspect of their performance whether its pre-, during-, or

post-game.14

Mental sport coaches are experienced to help the athletes to be aware which focus they need

at what time.

For musicians its the same. We need to know what our focus is at which part in the music.

Practicing, help from our teachers or even a mental coach like Martine van der Loo can helpus.

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Circles:

Hans Eberspcher is a German sport psychologist (1943). He invented the Circles whichexplain where the focus goes at the time they have to perform.

If the focus is on the task, the athlete will perform his best.

1= me and my task (to observe, decide, execution)

2= direct distractions (temperature, colleagues, circumstances)3= is-supposed to be (comparison)

4= to succeed/to fail

5= consequences from succeeding/failing

6= live question (what am I doing here?)

Wieke Karsten has translated this model for athletes to musicians.15

1= To be in the moment. You listen, feel, hear, experience and action: No talking in the mind.

2= Having small thoughts: relax thumb, wider vibrato, and music-focused thoughts.3= Thoughts that start judging: oh no, wrong note, oh god difficult passage, stupid!

4= Circumstances interrupt our focus: oh no, they are looking at me! They look bored! They

think Im bad!

5= Occupied by past and future: God this piece is very simple, I should be playing much

harder repertoire, Im already in my 4thyear! Ill never get a job.

6= I wish I was not here on stage.

When you practice its very important to realize in which circle you are. Effective practice

should exclude circle 3 and further. Circle 2 is necessary during practice but doing this you

have to keep your instrument down for 3 seconds.16

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Performance based approach

After having gained some more information about the brains and needed focus for a great

performance, I would like to discuss the approach discussed by Dianne Kenny andLiesbeth/Citroen that can help the musician to obtain a nicer performance experience.

Behavioral model of performance enhancement

The goalis to transfer the skills learnt during preparation to the actual performance.

Suinns proposed techniques are packaged into an Anxiety Management Training

(AMT).

Resourceis to learn the use of relaxation under conditions of arousal in conjunction

with cognitive restructuring to deal with problematic thoughts. This approach

addresses at the same time skill acquisition and anxiety. This approach has a maximal

effect on the transfer from the practice room to the stage, because not only are the

skills learnt to automaticity, but the emotional responses attached to those skills are

embedded in the skill itself (Kenny 2005)

ExampleOnce youre anxious, it actually affects the tension in your muscles. A lot of my

training has been in learning how to reverse the muscle response to anxiety. If Im

playing some very complex work, the audience often says: Oh you looked so

relaxed. The reason is that Im consciously jelly fishing my muscles in order to do

it, because it makes it so much easier to do itif my focus cuts out, the tendency is to

panic so the muscles seize up but mine dont tend to for more than a micro second

because my natural response to release the muscle kicks in. So in fact, when Im more

anxious, Im constantly jelly fishing because thats what Ive trained myself to do;

because thats the easiest way to get back my focus and calm.

Individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model

Excitement is some kind of anxiety that is expressed positively. Anxiety supplies essentialcreative energy.and that, in stead of running away from anxiety, it is wisest to move

through it, achieving a measure of self-realization in the process (Reubart, 1985).

Hanin (2000) has developed a model, IZOF, and an IZOF emotion-profiling assessment

protocol that personalizes the application of the model. The goal of this process is to assist

athletes (musicians) to identify 1) their individual relevant emotions during performance

2) which emotions are most associated with their best and worst performances 3) the

relative intensity of these emotions as they affect performance. For example if anxiety is

found to be intense during worst performances, a program to address anxiety is devisedthat covers skills such as attentional control, cognitive restructuring, deep breathing,

relaxation, and the use of energizing verbal cues.

Goal setting:

Goal setting theory states that the setting of specific challenging goals enhances

performance. Two key factors include the nature of the goal chosen and the persons self-

efficacy or confidence that the goal can be attained.

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The trichomotomous theory (Lacaille, Whipple and Koestner 2005) is the only goal

setting theory applied to athletes and musicians. The theory proposes two main types of

goals:1) Mastery goals

2) Performance goals.

Mastery goals are about the development of the skills needed for the task.Performance goals are in 2 types

a) Performance approach goals, which are directed toward the attainment of success

b) Performance avoidance goals, whose aims are to avoid failure.

Lacaille (2005) hypothesized that a focus on performance goals might not be helpful to

musicians because of the high prevalence and frequency of performance anxiety in that

profession. They speculated that non-achievement goals such as the intrinsic enjoyment of

the music and being absorbed by the musical experience might be more helpful to

musicians.

Practice

It is very important to have your goals very clear in your head when you practice. Performersneed to imagine how they would like the work to sound in the acoustic of the performance

venue and for the particular audience for whom it will be performed (Fortune 2007). There isan evident link between inadequate practice and music performance anxiety.

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Unifying model of psychological preparations for peak performance

What do we, as musicians need to be aware of before a performance?

Hardy, Jones and Gould (1996) developed a model with five components:


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1) Fundamental: confidence, motivation and aspiration, goal orientation (the task

versus your ego)

2) Psychological skills and strategies: goal setting, imagery and pre-performanceroutines

3) Adversity coping skills and strategies: realistic appraisal, social support, recovery

strategies, refocusing4) Ideal performance state: finding the optimal levels for emotions, cognitions and

arousal

5) Environment: physical, social, organizational, situational

Examples:

1) Make sure your goal is positive: To make music. Feel confident about how you feel

the music and trust yourself that you can give this to the audience. This is your

motivation and ambition. Dont be ego focused by for example focusing on playing

perfect.

2) Lets say: your goal is to make music: Imagine every emotion with every passage in

the music. Know what you feel and what the audience should feel. Practice this.

3)

Know that no one is perfect. Realize that you will make mistakes. This is oke! Knowthat not every performance is the same. Accept it!

4) Practice your attitude when playing the piece. Every passage has its own characterand feeling, Remember it.

5) Physical: health and fitness, properly warmth up, properly rested

Social: social support

Organizational: quality of practice,

Situational: concert hall, audience, accommodation, time zones

Pre-performance routines

As stated in the unifying model; its necessary to be mentally prepared in every possible

way.

To be mentally strong you have to be confident with yourself. This is a game played in themind. Negative self-talk occurs many times when arousal appears.

Negative self-talk should be interrupted by you. Teach yourself to turn the negative

thoughts in something more positive. Make the negative thoughts more useful!17

On stage a musician is always influenced by the environment and there own movements

to aid their performance. Once arousal or somatic (body) / cognitive(psychological)

anxiety increases, the range of cues to which one can attend reduces (Eastbrook, 1959).

Reduction in the use of appropriate cues will result in deterioration in performancequality. This process is called perceptual narrowing (Kahneman, 1973). High cognitive

anxiety can result in irrelevant thoughts (negative self-talk, focus on audience reactions).

These thoughts interfere with the attention needed to meet the challenges of the task.

Visiting the venue and practicing in the performance setting may be helpful to performers.

Integrating performance-setting cues into performance preparation reduces the demands

on attention on the day of the performance.

Stepahnie McCallum, an eminent Australian pianist, described the elements required for

the preparation and lead-up to a major solo recital.

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..The tightrope that is a full-length memorized recital. Thats a tightrope for any-one, it

doesnt matter if youre Richter, or Pavarotti and youve done it 5.000 times. It is a very

big outpouring of concentrated intellectual and creative energy. It Takes a build-up of

preparation, much like a sporting event, you have to peak at the right time. And you have

to arrive on the stage in a condition where youre able to shed the physical symptoms of

the adrenaline rush, but have the residue of concentration, very unusual high levels ofconcentration, which make you feel as though you are in a flow state where youre carried

along by your brain. So its partially a physical re-enactment of learned positions

controlled by a creative impulse, which is held hostage to absolute concentration. If your

concentration goes, the creative impulse is destroyed because the panic of retaining the

physical movements then becomes the major project. So ones goal is to reach a state of

preparation where, when youre in this state of concentration, you dont have cut-outs -

that is, a serious loss of concentration. Its a mental state of focus, which is like sitting

someone down and youre going to tell them a story, and you have the story in your head.

You know what it is you want to talk about. Youre creating the story as you say it by the

sentences that you construct and so on. Youre trying to make an impression on the other

person with the story, so youre emphasizing some things; youre considering the order inwhich the things come. Its a bit like that except that it is an infinitely more complex task

than that because youre regurgitating an existing phenomenon, anothers creation.

Stephanie emphasizes to

1) Prepare the physical movements combined with your creative impulse

2) Focus on this-> this will prevent your concentration drop, which in all cases need to

be avoided; Its hard to get back to this focus. The new focus will be

artificial(retaining the physical movements without the creative impulse)

The role of imagery in performance preparation/mental practice

In music performance, motor imagery associated with simultaneous technical and

emotional input can help to embed information securely in the memory. Introducing amore imaginative approach into performance practice has potential benefits for both

motivation and memory retention (Holmes, 2005). Imagery may also assist less confident

performers achieve heightened mental focus and a clearer perception of the perfect

performance, which may facilitate enhanced performance (Hall, 1995;Moritz et al.,

1996). Imagery may also enhance emotional connection with the music in performance

(Peterson, 2000) or the auditory, visual and proprioceptive sense required for optimum

technical function (Dunbar-Wells, 1999).

Pre-performance imagery may assist in focusing the mind on a thought or sensation thatthe performer associates with confidence. Others focus on the breath to calm anxiety and

reduce automatic stress-related responses. These strategies serve simultaneously to

distract the performer from the inner monologue of self-doubting and catastrophizing

thoughts that can impair a performance (Liston et al., 2003; Zinn, McCain, & Zinn, 2000).

In sports mental preparation already is an important part of their routine. They use:

competition simulation, mental practice, goal setting, emotion control, behavioral

routines, specific technical strategies, attentional strategies, reaction to mistakes, and post-

competition self-assessment (Bertollo, Salterelli, & Robazza, 2009).

If I would translate this to mental preparation for musicians it would be:


18/27

Concert try-out, mental practice, goal setting (for example: playing the piece with the

emotions that for you fit the piece), emotion control ( keep your head cool), behavioral

routines ( know what your body language will give to the audience, practice it), knowyour motor skills, know what to focus during playing, know that mistakes always happen,

evaluate your performance afterwards with a positive attitude (dont call yourself ever the

worst musician. Remember some mistakes to work on. Remember also the good parts ofthe performance).

Martine van der loo and Liesbeth Citroen developed some very useful exercises to train

your imagery practice. Ill explain 3 exercises that I found very useful.

1. Visualization

If you visualize a concert, there are 2 possibilities:

$ Extern visualizations: You see yourself from the audience playing

$ Intern visualization: Youre standing on stage and experience your playing

Athletes use visualization training all the time. Before they actually run the race, theyalready experienced every movement and emotion a hundred times.

With extern visualization you can correct more easily your skills, since you take

distance from your emotions.

With the intern visualization you pay more attention to your physical sensations and

feelings that come with your skills.

2. Pretend to be someone else

$ What can make you mentally stronger is to give you the sensation of being someonewho you think to be the best.

$

Imagine this person playing the piece, you have to play$ Visualize and Analyze this person extern (youre sitting in the hall)

$ Visualize that its you playing. What are the sensations? How does it feel to be thisperson? Whats changing?

$ Sometimes you can also take yourself as model from a concert you had an ultimateperformance experience.

3. Choose the key

When youre very nervous on stage and you know its necessary to get your brains focused to

the music you can choose a thought that brings you back to a more confident feeling that you

recognize from your practice.

$ Choose the key (it can be something physical, or something mental. For example:focus your attention to your right shoulder to relax it. Or focus your attention to an

image of someone you love.

$ Choose the condition you need (very confident). You can recognize this feeling bythinking about your model, or to take the attitude from someone with a lot of

confidence, or by saying something powerful to yourself like: Go! Here I am! Dont

mind!

$ Every time you make this key movement or think about your loved one, youllconnect it automatically to the condition you need.

$

Practice this when youre confident and relaxed. Its the best way to program it into

your system.


19/27

Survey:

Since Ive realized myself that my focus on stage is not always in the music like I want to,

I was wondering what my colleagues experience when they are on stage and before stage.

Ive asked 50 colleagues the following questions:

$ Whats going on in your thoughts when youre performing on stage?

$ Are you thinking about more than one thing?

$ Where is your focus when you have a good performance?

$ Where is your focus when youre not having a good performance?

$ What do you think about the hour before you go on stage?

$ What does your body feel like before you go on stage?

$ Is there a relation between your pre/feeling and thoughts and a good/bad

performance?

$ What do you do when your focus on stage is not where it should be?

If I would answer these questions myself:

$ It depends, some parts during the concert Im feeling the music and being able to reactto what I hear. Other parts I start thinking about if the audience heard the notes that

were out of tune or I think that Im feeling tired.

$ Yes, my concentrations shifts quite a lot from internal to external thoughts$ Music

$ Audience, or the things that could have gone better

$

Im making myself ready for enjoyment$ A snake turning in my stomach, high heart-rate

$ Yes definitely. It has a lot to do with confidence$ I sing the music.

If I compare my answers to my colleagues I have to say that Ive seen very similar answers.

$ This varies a bit. Some colleagues are able to just follow the music, but many are alsothinking about what the teacher said, or about stupid things like the lights in the hall,

or about mistakes, audience some dont think about anything: they play automatically,which is not in the music. Some give themselves comments all the time: relax your

body, follow the phrase, and think ahead.

$ Yes people shift with their thoughts during the performance, which probably is normalsince the brain cant focus intensively for a very long time. The main goal is to refocus

and to skip the irrelevant thoughts.

$ Following the music, in the sound, phrasing, self confidence, listening to the sound inthe hall

$ Thinking about the opinion of the audience, thinking you want to leave, failing,panicking about phrases that are about to come

$ Some are very relaxed and visualize the concert, keeping up the positive mood, othersare stressed and easily distracted, most of them dont play too much before the

performance, but try to stay calm.


20/27

$ It depends very much. It doesnt seem to always be the same on stage, so bad thinkingbefore doesnt always imply a bad performance

$ Some people stay negative and want to leave the stage; others are able to refocus tothe music by listening to other musicians.

Reading the answers from my colleagues somehow gave me the confirmation I already knew.

It is difficult to control our focus and our thoughts. Im glad to see that some of my colleagues

are aware and being able to deal with it.


21/27

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Goal setting

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performance routine

Imagery

First Ive practiced these exercises myself, to see if I could improve my focus on stage with

having the exercises in my preparation and on stage.

Secondly I will show the methods that I havent mentioned in my research to show the choice

Ive made and to explain why Ive made this choice.Finally I have discussed these exercises with my colleagues during the master circle at the

royal conservatoire of The Hague.

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22/27

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23/27

4) Ideal performance state: finding the optimal levels for emotions, cognitions and

arousal

5) Environment: physical, social, organizational, situational

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24/27

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25/27

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26/27

Conclusion:

I started this research to obtain the ultimate performance.

First of course I needed to clarify what is the ultimate performance. Psychologist

Csikszentmihalyi helped me realize its this being absorbed by music, loss of time

awareness that he calls the flow state that every musician wishes to experience.

To create a flow is something very difficult to do. Its something that needs to happen.Its interesting to see that even though on stage youre still nervous, by practicing to think

about the right things, you can manage to enjoy your sound and feel the music yourself.

For me this is in a concert a wonderful thing to hold on to. You may still think about your

focus and your needs to refocus when your attention draws away to irrelevant thoughts,

but at least the enjoyment becomes a big part of your performance.

After reading through my research Ive realised Ive gained so much more awareness how

to create a nice experience for myself on stage. Recently Ive given quite some recitals. I

enjoyed it.There were moments my concentration went internal or external, but I was able to refocus.The performance-based approach taught me how to prepare mentally.

Visualisation, determining the right goal, self-confidence by giving me the keywords

before going on stage (you can do it! Here I am! Dont mind), pretending to be someone

else.

Refocusing by putting attention to for example relaxing my stomach.

People around me who have followed me the past years separately told me my way of

playing has grown much more expressively and more free.

Besides the exercises Ive been able to use during practice and on stage, I gained more

awareness about the function and consequences of the brain when arousal was activated.By this awareness you realize its something natural and nothing extraordinary. The FFF

reaction is something pure instinctive, which is impossible to deny.

I want to thank Martine van der Loo and Wieke Karsten for the time they reserved for me

to talk about my research. Also of course my coaches Philip Curtis and Patrick van

Deurzen and Kathryn Cok.


27/27

Bibliography

Articles:

Getting into the optimal performance state by R. Nideffer

Psychological treatment of musical performance anxiety: Curent status and future directionsby Anne M.McGinnis and Leonard S. Milling (2005)

Performance degration under pressure in music: an examination of attentional processes:

catherine y.wan and gail f. Huon (2005)

columns: Wieke Karsten www.wiekekarsten.nl: Circel 1/3 seconden/gewoon spannend

Books:

Performance of music performance anxiety by Dianne Kenny

Podiumangst by Liesbeth Citroen en Martine van der Loo

Psyche to win by Robert Nideffer

Website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi

the ultimate performance

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