Performance anxiety is a common experience among musicians. Recent studies have found it to be an issue not only for adult performers but also for developing musicians as early as third grade. The question as to its developed or innate nature led to the present inquiry pertaining to young children’s responses to performance situations. Sixty-six 3- and 4-year-olds taking group music lessons that culminated in two concerts served as participants. Self-report of anticipatory anxiety, cortisol secretion, and observation of anxious behaviors were the primary measures. Results indicated that young children did experience anxiety with respect to music performances and that responses seemed to have both innate and developed components. Children with prior performing experience reported less anticipatory anxiety, but had higher cortisol levels, than those without prior experience. Additionally, performance location seemed to play a role in children’s anxiety responses. Those who were familiar with their performance environment responded with less anxiety than those who were not. Overall, second performances within a short time frame elicited much lower anxiety responses than initial performances. Findings pertaining to performance location and second performances appear to have direct pedagogical implications, which may help to reduce performance stress in young children.

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of adolescent pianists in their private lessons and solo performances in regard to concert preparation and music performance anxiety (mpa). A particular focus was placed on the student-teacher relationship and the potential role of teachers in students’ preparation, experience, and anxiety in performance situations. 62 piano students completed questionnaires pertaining to their private lessons, teacher, and performance experiences, as well as two inventories—one pertaining to self-esteem and the other on music performance anxiety. Results indicate that self-esteem and practice are significant predictors of mpa, with self-esteem having the most notable effect. Almost half of the participants reported feeling nervous in their lessons at least some of the time. Most students noted that their teachers encourage them to perform; however, only half reported that their teachers address performance preparation issues. Less than half were reported to discuss memorization strategies or management of mpa with students, or to hold practice-performance classes. Implications for music educators and future research directions are discussed.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Biometrika Trust is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Biometrika. SUMMARYThe asymptotic sequential distribution is derived for score tests and maximum likelihood estimates in parametric survival models in the presence of nuisance parameters where individuals enter over time and the data are subject to right censoring. It is shown that these sequential tests and estimates have an independent increments structure. This allows the use of standard group sequential methods for early stopping.

Music is increasingly recognized as having a social role, insofar as it is linked to emotional regulation and to early interactions in infancy and the preschool years. The goal of this meta-analysis was to examine the impact of participating in an early childhood music programme on indices of socioemotional development in children under 6 years of age. The overall result showed a moderate effect size (N = 681, k = 11, d = 0.57, p < 0.001). Moderation analyses revealed that the type of assessment (observational measure, reported measure or other types of assessment) significantly influenced effect size (Q′ = 25.26, p < 0.001). No other moderation analysis was significant. Although these findings are promising, suggesting that participation in an early childhood music programme contribute to children’s socioemotional development, more rigorous studies are needed to assess the impact of participating in a music programme on socioemotional development.

Solo performance is a common experience for children learning to play an instrument, yet the research literature on these experiences is limited, with a focus on older children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine younger children’s feelings about performance over the course of a year of study. Forty-one children were interviewed about their piano lessons and performance experiences at the end of two consecutive semesters of study. They also responded to a pictorial scale on their feelings about performance at each interview and again at two piano recitals. Results indicate that children are remarkably consistent in their feelings about performing in piano recitals, with few significant changes over time and context. Correlation analyses indicate changes in the relationships between feelings about performance and certain study variables over time—in particular age, liking of lessons, liking of performing, practice time, and perception of being good at piano. In the fall term, gender and age are significant predictors of feelings about performance, with younger children and boys feeling most positive. In the spring, the findings shift and the only significant predictor is children’s liking of piano lessons. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.