Practice, Performance, and Anxiety: A Pilot Study on Student Perception of Parental Involvement and Formal Music Lessons

Parents play a variety of important roles in their children's musical development. However, whether they impact upon children's music performance education and experience has only begun to be considered. The current study sought to examine whether student perception of parent involvement in music and performance education is related to their experience of music performance anxiety. Sixty-two piano students aged 11 to 17 completed a questionnaire regarding their piano studies, their parents’ involvement in them, and their parents’ prior music education. They also completed measures of performance anxiety and self-esteem. Results indicated that parents’ prior music education was significantly associated with performance anxiety in their children. Participant age, self-esteem, and practice time were also significant variables. Measures of parent involvement in music studies and parent response to weak performances were not found to be significantly related to performance anxiety scores. Implications of these findings and directions for furthering this line of research are discussed.