Fear of Expression - Honours Paper Now Available Online

In 2016, I completed my Bachelor of Music with Honours degree at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. My honours paper focused on the causes of music performance anxiety in improvising classical, jazz and cross-genre tertiary percussionists. After so many years, I finally finished editing my paper and uploaded it online. If you wish to read the paper, please click on the title/link below: 

Fear of Expression: A Mixed Method Analysis of the Causes of Music Performance Anxiety in Improvising Classical, Jazz and Cross-Genre Tertiary Percussionists 

The day I submitted my honours paper. October 28th, 2016.

At the end of 2016, I had the opportunity of presenting my research at Performing Wellness Symposium 2016. It was an incredible experience to engage with researchers alike and venture into a world beyond music itself. I do hope my research can help other percussionists, students, teachers, musicians and health specialists, as the research I found helped me so much in my personal journey.

Performing Wellness Symposium 2016. Photo by Lachlan Hawkins on December 10th, 2016.

As a percussionist and educator, I highly value the knowledge and understanding of music psychology. I believe that it is essential knowledge to further understand ourselves to approach our everyday tasks as musicians. Recently I applied for a higher research degree at University of Queensland, as I hope to further my studies in performance psychology in percussion pedagogy - fingers crossed. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my paper and please let me know what you think! I am always happy to discuss percussion, music psychology or musician health with anyone! Lastly, I'll leave you with the conclusion segment of my paper: 

During this dissertation, I’ve developed a deeper understanding of myself as a musician, and as a person. Observing artistic practice in comparison to data from other percussionists has been an eye opening and a new learning experience. My journey, as recorded in a reflective journal, shows a change of focus from achieving aesthetic desires to prioritising personal health and artistic satisfaction. A change of attitude has adjusted my approach to music practice and performance. The research project has assisted this positive change, and I hope the research that I’ve gathered here can relate and help other musicians. To conclude, I’d like to leave you with this thought inspired by my counsellor, “What is driving your choices, thoughts and behaviour? Is it passion and love or fear?”

Laugh, Love, Live without Fear of Expression! 

​Anna x