The phrase “music education” bears dissimilar definitions and associations in different disciplines and countries. At this point arguments about the applicability of a specific theoretical opinion on a universal scale are still in progress. Furthermore, music education embodies endless variations unlike many fixed course topics in miscellaneous educational programs. Hargreaves (2001) agreed with the English and American originated views regarding the contents of music education and advocated that music practices are universal rather than local.

Throughout ages acclaimed intellectuals, scholars and educators have laid emphasis on the significant position of music in the lives of humans and rationalized the practice of music as an educational tool (Bilen, 1995).

Ordinary rules cannot apply to music teaching and learning since common laws fail to be practical in the field of music. The learning process in music that starts in early childhood can be categorically listed under three main headings; acquisition of music knowledge and experience; storing music knowledge, and developing music skills. Thus we are not only endowed with a conscious memory capable of presenting the acquired knowledge and experience but also a near-automatic memory that is presented during any given performance and all relevant musical skills (Clarke, 2001).

Self-esteem is decisively one of the most fundamental necessities of this modern age of development. Experiences encompassing psychological achievements lay the foundation for the self-esteem that underlines what an individual can achieve. Schmuck and Schmuck (2001) attested that the academic self-esteem of students is significantly affected by the feedback provided by their teachers and classmates. This effect can manifest itself as either an elevated or diminished score in academic self-esteem. Creative teachers can further support the  academic  self-esteem of students exhibiting a lower academic self-esteem level by setting them achievable aims and organizing target-oriented activities to boost student development (Schmuck and Schmuck, 2001).

Self-esteem is a state of appreciation that emerges from the approval of the self concept that the individual reaches after self-evaluation. The individual who finds himself incompetent can criticize himself/or find others completely positive or like himself. For self-appreciation and self-esteem. the individual does not have to possess superior qualities. Rather than considering oneself better or worse than the real situation, self-esteem is the feeling of self-appreciation (Aslan et al., 2010).

In his study. Harter (1992) claimed that musical self-esteem has a nature shapeable by children and the very earliest musical experiences have been attested to create quite a profound impact on any child's musical experience.

Self-concept of an individual is influenced by the love and values received from parents in childhood, interactions with peers, success or failures in school life, social class of the family he lives in and many other experiences in life. In contrast, self-concept influences physical and spiritual wellness of an individual, his interactions with other people and the quality of these interactions, academic success, choice of profession and many other choices he makes in his life (Yağışan and Arslan, 2014).

Austin (1998) holds the belief that the self-esteem model that any given student assigns to himself guides his motivation to participate in music activities and behaviors in  music  courses.  In  relevant  research  data based on personal stories it was identified that an adult with a lower level of musical self-esteem narrated a story of elementary school age when he was denied the right to participate in a musical activity or practice music (Lendon, 1982).

Personal anxiety level is another significant factor profoundly affecting the musical self-esteem concept. It is a common knowledge that anxiety levels are particularly high among performers on stage.

Children with low self-respect have high levels of anxiety and depression and weak friendship relations. Some of these children might have difficulty in participating in play groups and sports teams and might be unwilling to participate in group activities. These children can be said to be the students having the most difficulty. In this period, children’s self-respect can be heightened by presenting them with opportunities to be successful and thus made more compliant. With rising self-respect, children can improve their self-confidence, establish better relations with other people, express themselves better, observe rules of society more as they feel themselves to be members of the society, and share and cooperate with other people (Yağışan and Arslan, 2014).

Anxiety is a persistent, aimless and pathological reaction originating from fear. Anxiety relates to observable reactions such as worry and stress that are cumulatively stimulated by stress-induced situations (Spielberger, 1972; Quot andÖzgüven, 1998). Mathison (1977) described anxiety as the failure to thoroughly define one's personal emotions (Quot and Cheung, 2006). Two main features of anxiety are lack of control over repeated thoughts and a general disposition to assume that things will get worse (Tallis, 2003). Anxiety that we commonly observe in the field of music is heavily centered on performance activity.

Music psychology contends that musical performance could also be explained by the psychology of the performer and resulting performance level as well as the way audiences are musically and emotionally affected by the staged performance. In sum, it is defined as the active attempt of the performer to stage the artwork for the audience. The musical message transmitted during a musical performance closely parallels the mood of audience at the time and all the things that the performer is able to transmit. It is thus a requirement to establish a wider connection among esthetical life domains within the triangle of composer-performer and audience. It is of crucial importance to transfer the effective and correctly-transmitted musical message disseminated by the performer to recipient individuals and societies. It is thus concluded that any performer who is immune to stage anxiety and fear plays quite a substantial role in the transfer of such musical sharing.

In Turkey there exist several state-university affiliated institutions offering professional music and instrument education (State Conservatories,  Faculties  of  Fine  Arts and Departments of Music Teaching within Faculties of Education). Among these institutions, it is expected that prospective music teachers studying in the departments of music teaching shall upon completing undergraduate studies in four years be professionally able and endowed with effective teaching qualities in music. On the other hand, students trained in conservatories and departments of music in the faculties of fine arts are required to graduate with high GPAs in instrument playing and in performance specifically. Hence the self-esteem level of the students in music education programs and the ways they cope with anxiety hold major values for their self-development.

A person's ability to identify his failings depends on the level of self concept and self congruity. It can thus become feasible for him to become a renowned musician and teacher who has further developed himself in the course of time. Aside from that it is feasible to list the expected traits of educators under various dimensions some of which are cognitive, personal, social, knowledge, correct professional attitudes and behaviors.

Psychometric approaches in the field of music science have gained remarkable impetus in the last two decades. The USA in particular is the recognized leader in this area. Despite the fact that there are various test types in the music field, it is quite convenient to determine the criteria for variables while testing. As argued by Kemp (2002), whilst the validity of a music test constitutes no problem, its typical criteria can forge certain assessments on instrument performance and literary or audio skills. Measurements that relate to the field of music integrate behavioral analyses and applied studies and render particular emphasis on the topics of “music therapy” and “music education”.

In view of the findings aforelisted, the present study aims to analyze whether a significant relationship really exists between “musical self-esteem" and "performance anxiety” scores of students registered at institutions of music and instrument education. In parallel with this objective another aim of this study is to analyze the “musical self-esteem" and "performance anxiety” mean scores of participating students and their variation with respect to gender, age, grade, institution, instrument and their interrelation with “musical self-confidence and performance anxiety” scores.

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the musical self-esteem and performance anxiety levels of students receiving professional music education. The research was designed in line with the survey method since the study involved inter-group comparisons and whether a significant differentiation existed with respect to various features between the problem solving and anxiety levels of students.

Participants

The      research    population    consisted    of    students   receiving undergraduate professional music education at various institutions in Turkey. The population consisted of 306 students from the Departments of Music Education affiliated to Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory (n=17), Istanbul University State Conservatory (n=28), Eastern Mediterranean University Faculty of Education  (n=34), Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts (n=14), Kocaeli University Faculty of Fine Arts (n=16), Marmara University Faculty of Education (n=51), Karadeniz Technical University State Conservatory (n=17), Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Education (n=37), On Sekiz Mart University Faculty of Education (n=39) and UludaÄŸ University Faculty of Education  (n=53).  

Data collection tools

Data in this research were collected via the Self-esteem of Music Ability (SEMA) scale originally designed by Schmitt (1979) to measure students' musical self-esteem levels and the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI) developed by Kenny (2004) to detect students' performance anxiety levels. In this research, there was also a 10-item student information form prepared by the researcher to collect the personal data of the sampling group.

Self- Esteem of Music Ability Scale

The original of the musical self-esteem scale utilized in this research was the Self-esteem of Music Ability scale designed by Schmitt (1979). The scale consists of 43 questions. Scale items were formed by arranging generic Eigen-value propositions with regard to musical talent. In the subtests of the scale, self-esteem, musical skills and capabilities, feelings of acceptance and reinforcers inherited from family, peers and teachers have been investigated. The scores a student receives from this scale and participation in a musical activity correlated at the level of 0.60. This is a Likert-type scale. In the scale there are four-grade propositions termed "I strongly agree - I agree - I disagree - I strongly disagree". Students are asked to indicate to what level the propositions are correct for them. Cronbach Alpha reliability analysis conducted to measure the use of the scale for this research is explained later. Reliability refers to the inter-consistency of the items listed in the questionnaire and to what extent the utilized scale reflects the target problem. To test the reliability of the Likert question group, Cronbach Alpha Reliability Coefficient was used in this research. Since Cronbach Alfa Coefficient is 0.70 and above. it is validated that the question group is reliable and can safely be implemented for the relevant required analyses. According to reliability analysis conducted for Likert questions, 0.80 ≤ Cronbach Alfa = 0.852 < 0.90, which translates to the deduction that this is a highly-reliable scale.

Music Performance Anxiety Inventory

The Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI) was developed in 2004 by Kenny to measure pre-performance experiences and underlying psychological vulnerabilities, to conduct a broader conceptualization of the problem so as to aid artists prone to performance anxiety; and to take one further step to focus on more appropriate and comprehensive treatments (Kenny, 2006). In this Likert scale, agreement of the scale with the statements is scored between “I strongly disagree” and “I strongly agree” options. In research among the members of the National Opera Association, the reliability coefficient of KMPAI was measured as 0.94. The Turkish adaptation of the scale was performed by Tokinan (2013) among 696 students studying in the first, second, third and fourth grades (18-23 age group) in  the  departments  of  Music Education affiliated to different universities in Turkey. In the analysis of this adapted inventory, Cronbach Alfa reliability coefficient of the 25 items was computed as 0.895.

The analyses conducted by the researcher validated that the Turkish adaptation of the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory is a valid and reliable measurement tool. Statements in this Likert type inventory are scored between ‘I strongly disagree’ (0) and ‘I strongly agree’ (6) and total scores vary between  0 and 150. 105 and higher score indicates higher musical performance anxiety whilst 45 and lower score indicates lower musical performance anxiety.

Procedure

Research data were collected in a numbered rank. Initially, descriptive distributions of the features of participants were tabulated. Next. relational analyses that are in parallel with research objectives were completed. Here are the statistical analyses relevant to the data obtained in this research. In order to summarize demographic features of students constituting the sampling, variables' frequency (f), percentages (%) and from the students' perspective, mean () and standard deviation (sd) values of the scores they attributed to Musical Self-esteem and Music Performance Anxiety Inventory, perception levels on musical self-esteem and music performance anxiety, and to detect whether a significant differentiation existed with respect to variables of gender, age, institution personal instrument independent groups t-test; in the failure to achieve normality  hypothesis non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis. Mann Whitney U (post hoc LSD in the aftermath) and one-way variance  analysis  (Anova) test were applied. To detect whether a significant relationship existed between musical self-confidence and the music performance anxiety scores of students. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient that is an analysis technique used to measure the level of linear relationship between two continuous variables was harnessed. In addition, to detect whether musical self-esteem scale values were affected by performance anxiety scale values and if affected. to measure the level of the effect, simple regression analysis was conducted. In all statistical measurements significance level was taken as 0.05. If significance value was found to be lower than 0.05 (p<.05) relations and differences between the groups (categories) of independent variables were accepted as “significant” and the findings were evaluated accordingly.

In this part of the research, numerical data retrieved via statistical analyses on the employed scale are tabulated then commented upon.

Table 1 demonstrates f and % computations of the relevant institutions. Total 306 students are involved in the study. In details, Mimar Sinan University State conservatory n=17. Istanbul University State conservatory n=28, DoÄŸu Akdeniz University Education Faculty n=34, Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty n=14, Kocaeli University Fine Arts Faculty n=16, Marmara University Education Faculty n=51, Karadeniz Technic University State Conservatory n=17, Dokuz Eylül University Education faculty n=37, On Sekiz Mart University Education Faculty n=39 and UludaÄŸ University Education Faculty n=53.

 

 

 

Participants in the group that was selected in the 2014 to 2015 academic term via the random sampling method consisted of 55.2% male and 44.8% female students. The great majority of students (56.2%) belonged to the 21 to 24 age group; 1st (43.8%) and 2nd (28.8%) graders formed the largest part of the study. As students' personal instruments at university were analyzed, the percentages were respectively, 42.2% of students' personal instrument was bow. 20.3% was string. 19.9% was wind. 11.1% was opera. 6.2% was the piano and 0.3% was a percussion instrument. Distribution of students with respect to their demographic features is demonstrated in Table 2.

 

 

 

 

Generic Descriptive Values of the “Musical Self-esteem and Musical Performance Anxiety” Scales are show in Table 3. 

 

 

 

 

A general analysis of musical self-esteem perceptions of participating students reveals that the computed mean score proves students' positive perception ( =85.22 ± 19.33). Table 3 provides the descriptive statistics of the scale that is used to measure the level at which  students feel anxious before or during any musical performance. According to the figures, the mean anxiety score of participants was 68.38±28.26, which indicates that students possessed a ‘mid’ range of musical anxiety. It was computed that 21.6% of students (66 individuals) possessed a ‘low’ range of musical performance anxiety (score range between 0 to 45). 66.7% of students (204 individuals) possessed a ‘mid’ range of musical performance anxiety (score range between 46-104) and 11.8% of students (36 individuals) possessed a ‘high’ range of musical performance anxiety. These figures indicate that the majority of  students  possessed  a  ‘mid’range of musical anxiety.

In Table 4 musical self-esteem scores of students did not differ significantly with respect to the gender (t=0.12; p>05) variable. Gender of group participants had no effect on their overall musical self-esteem levels.

 

 

 

 

It was identified that with respect to the gender variable, music performance anxiety levels of students differed significantly [t₍₃₀₄₎=2.29 and p<0.05].

Mean scores of the gender of the group indicated that among male students, a anxiety levels were higher than female students (_Male=71.69 and _Female=64.29) (Table 5 to 9).

 

 

 

 

 

It was also identified that with respect to the age group of students, music performance anxiety levels differed significantly [F_{(2; 303)}=4.10 and p<0.05]. According to the post-hoc LSD test conducted upon the Anova test, to determine among which age groups existed a significant  difference; students in the age group 18-21 had higher anxiety levels (_18-21=74.08; _21-24=63.34 and _{24 and above}=60.57).

According to the Anova test conducted to see if the music performance anxiety scores of students differed with respect to the grade variable, students' grade (1st. 2nd. 3rd or 4th year) existed significant differentiation in their music performance anxiety. Grade 1 had higher anxiety levels. As a result. 1st grade students have higher anxiety becouse they are youngest.

It was  detected  that with respect to students' individualinstruments, music performance anxiety levels differed significantly (X²=9.89 and p<0.05). According to the post-hoc Mann-Whitney test conducted to identify among which instrument groups existed a significant difference of the students whose individual instrument at school was piano (Group 5) anxiety levels were significantly lower than the others (Mean rank _bow=158.09; Mean rank _wind=165.48; Mean rank _stringed=149.40; Mean rank _Opera=150.03 and Mean rank _Piano=95.42).

The registered institution of participating students triggered a significant differentiation in their music performance anxiety levels (X²=14.63 and p<0.05). According to the results of the Post-hoc Mann-Whitney test, music performance anxiety levels of students in Mimar Sinan Conservatory, Marmara University, Fine Arts and Marmara University, Department of Music Teaching (Groups 1. 4 and 6) were significantly higher than the students registered at the DoÄŸu Akdeniz University, Department of Music Teaching, Kocaeli University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Karadeniz Technical  University Conservatory and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of Music Teaching  (Groups 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9) (Mean rank_{Mimar Sinan FA.}=175.82; Mean rank_{DoÄŸu Akdeniz U. Music T.}=125.78; Mean rank_{Marmara U. F.FA}=175.11; Mean rank_{Kocaeli U. F.A.A.}=128.88; Mean rank_{Marmara U. Music T.}=173.15; Mean rank_{Karadeniz Technical  U. Cons.}=124.64 and Mean rank_{Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart U. Music T.}=122.94).

It was identified in Table 10 that there is a negative relationship between students' “musical  self-esteem” and “musical” performance anxiety levels. Based on the features of present inventories. whilst “low” scores received from musical self-esteem inventory are positive, “high” scores received from musical performance anxiety scale are positive. 

 

 

 

In this research, “simple regression” analysis (Table 11) was also conducted to identify whether musical self-esteem inventory scores and musical performance anxiety scores are related. Regression coefficient was computed as 0.067 (p>.05). However. the performance anxiety coefficient score was 0.084 (p>0.05) and no statistically significant difference was measured.

 

 

In the light of all the findings obtained from the present study it can feasibly be argued that no differentiation was detected between students' musical self-esteem levels and the gender variable. It was however manifested that depending on students' gender, levels of music performance anxiety differed significantly. As the mean scores of students were analyzed with respect to the gender variable it surfaced that male students exhibited higher anxiety levels compared to female students. Austin (1998) reached a supportive result in his research in which he identified that no significant relationship existed between the gender of elementary school students  competing  in  music contests and their musical self-esteem levels. Gender variables did not provide a significant differentiation in students' musical self-esteem levels. Leondari and Syngollitou (1998) on the other hand posited in their research focused on academic achievement and motivation that males exhibited a higher sense of self-esteem and motivation. Larkin and Abel (1990) attest that compared to female musicians, male musicians experienced lower levels of performance anxiety. As claimed by Iusca and Dafinoiu (2011) and LeBlanc et al. (1997) female musicians sense the presence of the audience as a threat element. A comparable finding was also posited by Åžentürk and ÇırakoÄŸlu (2013). It was likewise claimed that compared to female performers, male performers had lower levels of state trait anxiety and performance anxiety.

Crain and Bracken (1994) found that as people get older, they interact with a lot of new people in new environments they enter, acquire new experiences and find chances to assess their behaviors in line with successes and failures and reactions from other people. As result of these different learning experiences, people develop differentiated self-concepts.

Arslan et al. (2010) found that there was a significantly positive relationship between the life satisfaction and self esteem of the Turkish University students. This result suggests that as the self esteem of adolescents increase, life satisfaction also increases. It shows that self esteem effects different part of psychological areas of education.

Another finding of this study is that with respect to students' personal instruments at school, their music performance anxiety levels differed significantly. According to the results of the test conducted to identify which instrument groups exhibited a significant difference, the anxiety level of students playing the piano as their personal instrument at school was lower. The underlying reason is that as the preliminary instrument in music education, the piano is one of the instruments that can be used in solo as well as duo (partnered) performances. Hence regardless of being stringed or wind or sound performances, it is noticeably difficult for other instruments to take the stage rather than the piano. This might be related to the idea that since pianists have a greater number of stage experiences they exhibit lower anxiety levels.

Another finding of this research is that there is a negative relationship between students’ “musical self-confidence” and  “musical performance  anxiety ”  scores, which is quite an unexpected finding since a general outlook on the case underlines that a performer with a higher sense of musical self-esteem should be less anxious during actual performances.

On the other hand a list of studies posited that “Musical Performance Anxiety” left such irreversible effects on the career of musicians that some had to discontinue their careers. ÇırakoÄŸlu (2013) attests that on the basis of international studies conducted so far, it can be argued that behavioral techniques and cognitive behaviorist therapy are beneficial and far more effective compared to similar techniques serving the same purpose.

Yağışan and Arslan (2014) found that the students receiving musical instrument training have higher happiness and satisfaction, popularity perceptions, more positive perceptions in terms of behavior and compliance and less anxiety compared to the students not receiving musical instrument training. The result of this study indicates that receiving musical instrument training is influential on students in terms of enabling them to have psychologically positive feelings about themselves. This  result supports the results of study.

Kendrick et al. (1982) in their study revealed the results of Cognitive Behaviorist Therapy that was conducted amongst fifty-three virtuosos (pianists) with musical performance anxiety problems and the virtuosos in the control group not performing on stage and undergoing therapy. The results found that no significant difference existed between the test and control groups. On the other hand. a five-week monitoring program conducted on the identical group showed that compared to the control group, participants in the Cognitive Behaviorist Therapy group exhibited a significant fall.

Among a range of methods serving the same purpose it would be a better option to analyze the techniques most favorable for the personal life, social life and work life of the individual. Revesz (2001) maintains that the core problem in music psychology is the recognition of music as one definition of musical creativity. Another issue is that this problem is deemed to be a stimulant evoking musical emotions and expressions. In sum, the psychology of music is embedded and developed around “performance” in all domains of music. In that sense it would be a more logical approach to initially define this domain prior to evaluating individual-based physical and psychological problems experienced during the performance.

In parallel with the findings obtained and references from the relevant literature, it can be reasonably suggested that since lack of self-confidence among students and prospective teachers in the field of professional music education is a psychosomatic disorder, Psychological Counseling and Guidance Departments in the faculties of education could organize related scientific conventions and seminars to remedy this problem, which triggers a negative effect on students driven to the problem of lower self-esteem in professional and personal life.

Another alternative suggestion is that in order to eliminate or alleviate anxiety factors that cause a negative effect on stage performance several methods such as biofeedback, meditation and yoga, Alexander technique, hypnotherapy and music therapy to remedy musical performance anxiety should be considered (Quot and ÇırakoÄŸlu, 2013).

The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.