Testing interventions for music performance under pressure: A randomized controlled study

The study aim was to transfer three interventions to optimize performance under pressure—a pre-performance routine (PPR), left-hand dynamic handgrip, and goalsetting— from sports to music. We hypothesized that the three intervention groups would report higher self-efficacy and perform better under pressure than the control group. In a 4 × 2 within-between-subjects design, 46 music students and aspiring professional musicians from all over the world performed audition excerpts under low and highpressure conditions. Pressure was induced in an adjudicated online mock audition. During a 4-week period between performances, three groups applied either PPR, dynamic handgrip, or goal-setting to their daily practice, while the waitlist control group practiced without an intervention. Participants’ music performance was measured by expert jurors, audience, and self-evaluations. The three interventions were perceived as helpful by the participants, but there were no significant differences in music performance, neither between the groups nor between pre and posttests. All groups reported higher selfefficacy in the posttest. A significant three-way interaction revealed differences in the changes of self-efficacy over phase as a function of music performance anxiety (MPA); specifically, intervention participants high in trait MPA reported higher self-efficacy in the posttest than control participants high in trait MPA, while no differences emerged between intervention and control participants low in trait MPA. Results did not indicate an effectiveness of the interventions for music performance, but the interventions were helpful for participants’ self-efficacy, especially for those high in trait MPA