Czajkowski (2018) conducted two more studies to further examine the effects of MBSR mindfulness training adapted to musicians in performing musicians and singers. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) was used to measure mindfulness levels, but also the Mindfulness for Musicians (MfM), a 15-item measure designed to measure musically related experiences, including lessons, practice, and performance. The intervention was called Mindfulness for Performing Arts Students course and it consisted of an MBSR course administered by a mindfulness expert. After the training, Czajkowski found that both FFMQ and MfM scores increased significantly (i.e. more mindful). Qualitative reports indicated that mindfulness training helped music students in dealing better with problems during practice, become more focused and more efficient, enjoy their practice time more, enhance their creativity, and become more structured. There were also reports of the training enhancing their instrumental technique, through becoming more aware of their body, including unnecessary tension, and sound. Moreover, participants reported feeling more focused during lessons and improving their ability to take criticism from the teacher and themselves. Finally, students reported improving their performing skills both individually and in ensembles and their music anxiety coping ability. The second study replicated Czjakowski & Greasley's (2015) investigation but with more participants (n = 39) and a more robust methodology by incorporating a control group, the MfM questionnaire, a 3-month longitudinal element, and a diary element. The study, again, put a major emphasis on participants’ qualitative reports. There were significant results for the experimental participants in the post-intervention facets of Describe, Non-React, and Non-Judge for the MfM questionnaire in comparison to their pre-intervention scores. There were no significant differences between the pre-and post-intervention periods for the controls. However, the control group had a smaller number of participants than the experimental group, which may have affected the interpretation of these results.
Participants reported that doing mindfulness before practice had improved their body awareness which helped with breathing, voice control and flexibility, and body tension. Some participants found mindfulness had helped to center their mindset within the vocal practice, becoming readier (Czjakowski & Greasley, 2015). Some also reported an increased positiveness towards practicing and feeling more focused, patient, and relaxed. There were specific reports of feeling less distracted and using mindfulness as a tool to cope with nerves before singing practice. Regarding the 3-month follow-up reports, participants expressed benefits from mindfulness during lessons and when performing (Czjakowski & Greasley, 2015), suggesting that continuing mindfulness practice had increasingly helped them to develop and improve their personal experiences in these music-related domains.
Mindfulness during practice
Despite the growing body of evidence focusing on the relationship between mindfulness and MPA, there is a dearth of experimental research data exploring the effects of teaching mindfulness to music students and how it may affect other aspects of music training such as solo practice. Nevertheless, there have been recent several attempts to demonstrate what mindfulness might look like after it has been imbedded into a musician’s routine and how it might affect their amount of distraction and ability to focus (Brown, 2020; Czajkowski, 2018; Czajkowski et al. 2020; Czajkowski et al., 2021; Czajkowski & Greasley, 2015; Hribar, 2012).
Hribar (2012) found evidence that an 8-week mindfulness course at the Guildhall School of Drama led to music students’ improvement of their trait mindfulness and a decrease in stress and depression, as well as increased enjoyment of the performance and more effective practice. Czjakowski & Greasley (2015) corroborated Hribar's results when applying for a novel mindfulness course and exploring its effects on eight university voice majors. The course was denominated Mindfulness for singers (MfS) and it was intended to be a short form of the MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) (Kabat-Zinn, 1990) and MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) (Segal et al., 2002; Williams & Penman, 2011) courses. The course consisted of lectures, group discussions, practical exercises, daily practice, and performance opportunities. The study involved a pre-and post-test FFQM (Five Fact Mindfulness questionnaire) questionnaire, the MfS course, and interviews. The FFQM questionnaire includes facets of Observe, Describe, Act with Awareness, Non-Judge, and Non-React. Just like Hribar (2012)’s course, or any other standard MBSR or MBCT course, The mindfulness for singers course consisted of eight weekly one-hour sessions. Specific subjects such as breathing awareness, mindful movement, primary and secondary suffering, which refers to experiencing criticism and judgment from others and oneself, as well as body scans, were also included in the training. A final interview asked about participants’ experience during the course.
There was an increase for all five mindfulness facets across the course of the study, being particularly noticeable for the Non-React and Non-Judge facets of the FFQM. The Non-React facet covers aspects such as seeing distressing thoughts, emotions, feelings, or images with calmness and perspective before reacting.
Participants reported being able to learn new techniques in the instrument with increased mental and body awareness, increased memory and clarity about new sensations, and greater awareness of vocal sound quality, tone color, and text communication. Seemingly, all participants reported feeling more aware, focused, concentrated, or alert during their singing lessons after doing mindfulness exercises, as well as less anxious and stressed. Participants communicated a raised awareness of unnecessary vocal or physical tension and have become more capable of changing bad habits. During practice, five participants felt the training had helped them become readier than normal to practice and more focused. Some also described their practice sessions as more productive and effective. Greater focus, more awareness, and more frequent use of creative approaches to practicing were also among the reports during practice. Furthermore, a reduction in fear of peer criticism was also reported as a consequence of becoming more mindful.
The benefits of mindfulness in musicians' daily practice were corroborated by Czajkowski, in two more studies (Czajkowski et al., 2020, 2021). Czajkowski et al. (2020) investigated the effects of a mindfulness course on 25 music students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on all aspects of their musical academic life. Participants completed pre- and post-questionnaires, although only 21 completed the post-intervention qualitative study. For measuring mindfulness, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Mindfulness for Musicians questionnaire (MfM) were used. Participants took part in “the Mindfulness for Performing Arts Students” (MfPAS) course. This is an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course. The participants agreed to do a mindfulness practice of 40 to 45 minutes a day. After the final session, the participants were asked to complete the post-intervention questionnaire and were invited to an interview. All post-intervention scores on the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (p < .001) and MfM (p < .022) were significantly higher than pre-intervention scores, indicating that participants had improved their mindfulness as a result of the intervention course. Post-intervention qualitative results indicated that mindfulness practice had overall positive effects on body awareness and technical learning, instrumental lessons, solo instrumental practice and ensemble rehearsals, and aspects of performance. Specifically, participants were reportedly more aware, focused, and less self-critical in instrumental lessons. They also reported an enhanced body awareness, which in turn improved their learning of instrumental techniques. In instrumental practice sessions, participants reported more efficient, effective, and creative practice, and stated that mindfulness exercises helped them deal with problems experienced while practicing. In a study replicating Czajkowski (2015), Czajkowski et al. (2021) found that, in an 8-week mindfulness course, 10 minutes of mindfulness pre-practice exercises helped participants improve their mindset when entering the practice room. Participants reported less distraction, increase awareness of posture, better ability to deal with practice problems, improvement of technique and sound production, and more creativity and expression.
Summary
The above studies demonstrate that the practice of mindfulness may lead to subjective improvements in multiple facets of vocal and instrumental practice such as efficiency, focus of attention, body awareness, creativity, structure and organization, readiness, productivity, motivation, acceptance, non-judgment, simplicity, and positivity. This study will try to accomplish some of these findings by administering 3 different mindfulness-guided meditations over 1 week. Moreover, having examined several mind-wandering studies contrasted thoroughly with the available current literature on mindfulness applied in the musical context, we can find some interesting intersecting points. Generally, it seems that the practice of mindfulness leads to states that are contrasting with mind-wandering. We find that, while mind-wandering seems to generate a lack of motivation, effort, distraction, less efficiency, stress, and judgment, mindfulness triggers the opposite states. In the next section, we will examine whether the literature has been able to find an actual relationship between mind-wandering and mindfulness.
Diaz et al. (2020) examined musicians’ expectations of mindfulness as well as the effects of formal meditation in their everyday experiences during a 5 days’ mindfulness’ module. The PM (Phenomenological Matrix of mindfulness) (Lutz et al., 2015, Diaz, 2022) was used to classify the psychological processes observed in participants’ reports. According to Diaz (2022), the PM is based on three targets (dereification, object orientation, and meta-awareness) and four secondary psychological qualities (aperture, clarity, stability, and effort) (see Section “mindfulness design” for more details). Eighteen students selected either a 5-day self-guided body-scan practice (FA) or a 5-day time log module. Participants completed a total of seven sessions of body-scan practices. In the first 2 days of the module, students practiced two 5-minute sitting mindful body scans. During the 5 min-meditation, they were encouraged to notice when their minds drifted away from the object of focus and to label their distractions. For the final 3 days, students engaged in a 20 min mindful body scan. Participants responses were then coded according to the (PM) Lutz et al. (2015).
Regarding participants’ overall expectations of the training, these were focused on managing undesired mental states and improving cognitive capacities such as attention and awareness. More specifically, their answers were classified into four general themes; management of stress and anxiety (i.e. participants expected to feel less overwhelmed, less judgmental, and experience less general anxiety); improvement of focus and mindfulness during musical and academic tasks and being more present in their daily lives; improved relationships; and personal growth and motivation. Secondly, the targets of the PM were reflected in participants’ reports of their meditation experience, being meta-awareness and effort the most represented, while aperture and dereification were the least.
Brown (2020) explored how mindfulness-based training affected collegiate double bassist perception of their performance and practice. The secondary purpose of this study was to
determine how mindfulness activities affected flow experiences and perception of self-care among collegiate double bass music students. Four guided meditations were administered over two weeks. These included a guided meditation while sitting and a guided meditation while playing the bass. After the two weeks intervention, Participants expressed positive perceptions of playing and practicing. In terms of flow, the participants observed that the regulation of distractions facilitated flow states. They also reported that flow states appeared when they had practiced mindfulness beforehand or when they chose to be mindful during the practice sessions. An improved sense of acceptance and non-judgment, along with more simplicity and positivity during practice, were qualities noticed by participants. Finally, participants also reported having improved their focus and being able to sustain their practice sessions for longer periods when practicing mindfulness.