The Bulletproof Musician Could Performance Anxiety Be Causing Students to Quit?
There are a lot of reasons why someone might decide to quit music at some point along the way. But could performance anxiety be one of them?
Indeed, performance anxiety can feel pretty uncomfortable! And it’s one thing if we still sound pretty good on stage regardless, and have a positive experience of performing overall. But when we get nervous and sound like just a shell of ourselves in performance, it could make us wonder why we keep putting ourselves up there...
So I was intrigued by a 2025 study which looked to see if deliberate practice might play a role in this equation between performance anxiety and performance success and thoughts about quitting. Check out the episode to see what they discovered!
Additional links
Practice That Sticks (self-paced course)
References
Hash, P. M. (2021). Student Retention in School Bands and Orchestras: A Literature Review. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 40(3), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/87551233211042585
Hatfield, J. L., & Williamon, A. (2025). Competitiveness and performance anxiety as predictors of performance success and intent to quit playing: deliberate practice as mediator and moderator. Music Education Research, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2025.2543376
Hernández, S. O., Zarza-Alzugaray, F. J., & Casanova, O. (2018). Music performance anxiety. Substance use and career abandonment in Spanish music students. International Journal of Music Education, 36(3), 460–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761418763903
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4102_2
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