Participant

In this study the researcher – a harp player (female, 25 years old, master student) – was herself the sole participant. This means that the effects of the exercises was be researched within a real-life context and in an in-depth investigation of a single case study. The first part of the study investigated effects of mental practice – in the form of a set of imagery exercises – on the musicians’ own experience. In order to do this, habits and experiences were tracked carefully for a period of one month. Furthermore, an audience, consisting of harpists and non-harpists filled out a questionnaire during a performance evening. This questionnaire was used to establish if there was a difference between the two practiced pieces.

Methodology

In the previous chapters the theoretical background of mental imagery in music was outlined. Based on the theory, the expectation/hypothesis was that the use of mental imagery exercises in the daily practice routine of musicians will enhance performance and lead to better results. Chapter 3 described a selection of exercises that can be used in daily practice. To see the effect of these exercises and test the hypothesis, this research will follow a qualitative approach in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the effects of the mental training program in a complex field environment.  The study consists of two parts:

1. The effects of the imagery exercise on economy of practice and the musicians’ practice and performance experience
2. The perception of the performance by the audience

An intervention was designed to see the effects of a set of mental imagery exercises on the participants’ practice and performance experience of a sonata by J.F. Nadermann, compared to a similar sonata (also by J.F. Nadermann) that was practiced using only physical practice. In addition, the perceived musical and technical ratings of the performance of both pieces were collected via an audience survey.

Journal questions

The data for this research consists of the participants’ own experiences, as well as an audience survey and recordings. To gather valuable data, I systematically tracked my experiences with the imagery exercises. This was done by keeping a journal with specific questions to answer every day. The set of questions was used for both the practice session with the imagery exercises as well as the regular practice session. At the end of the month, the result is a collection of my daily experiences with the imagery exercises and a collection of my daily experiences without the imagery exercises.

The journal questions can be found in the attachment below. The questions were measured using a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) and the questions focussed on the indicators described in the variables-section. The VAS measurement is especially suited for this research because it is difficult to directly measure indicators like enjoyment or confidence. Therefore, a measurement that is able to measure the continuum of values is more suited.  The question focussed on the level of engagement, the level of motivation, the level of enjoyment, the level of confidence and the level of tiredness before and after each practice session. Furthermore, the questionnaire asks the participant if there are any external factors that might have influenced the practice session.

Survey

In the second part of the study data was collected from an audience survey. Although the most important factor was the musicians’ own experience, it was also important to see if the participant’s own experiences were also visible to the public. A mini concert was organized in which the participant performed both pieces. A survey specially designed for this and focussed specifically on the technical proficiency, the musical intention and expressiveness of the piece. The audience filled in the survey while listening to the pieces. The final question asked the audience which piece they believed to be the imagery-practiced piece. The full survey can be found in the first attachment below. The second attachment contains the survey the participant has to fill out after the performance.

Recordings

Finally, the study was also documented in recordings. Before practicing both pieces, a recording was be made where the participant sight-read both pieces. Furthermore, the practice sessions were recorded every day. Each week the full pieces were recorded. At the end of the month the performance was recorded as well. 

Procedure

The imagery exercises were to be tested by practicing two similar pieces for one month. One of the pieces was practiced only physically, the other one was practiced both physically as well as mentally. These two pieces are from the same collection of sonatas and have the same level of difficulty. This is not only indicated by the publisher, but also by two teachers of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. It is important that the two pieces had the same level of difficulty, to rule out that other factors than the imagery exercises influenced the result.

For both pieces, the same template was filled in after each practice sessions as discussed in the previous paragraph. To exclude other factors, both pieces were practiced for the same amount of time every day: 15 minutes. On day one, the imagery piece is practiced, on day two the normal piece. This is alternated each day. The template consists of different questions that indicate to what extent the practice session was considered to be economic.

By means of the questionnaire, the audience was asked to compare the performance of the two pieces and the end of the intervention. The audience consisted of harpists and non-harpists. It was important to include the last category, since non-harpists are likely to listen differently to the pieces than harpists are.

Before the intervention started a day-by-day procedure was made. This procedure made sure that the sessions with the imagery piece are comparable to the normal practice sessions. Furthermore, it provided the participant with a schedule to implement the imagery exercises in order to make sure each category of exercises was practiced. To give the participant some flexibility, only the categories of the imagery exercises were given so the participant was free to choose the particular exercises that she felt good about that day. This was to ensure that the participant was able to make some adjustments  - for example as some exercises might be easier or more useful to implement than others. Both procedures can be found in the tables below.

Procedure for the normal piece:

Method of analysis

At the end of the intervention the results from the individual logbook and the questionnaires filled in by the audience were processed. By analysing the questionnaires and the recordings, broader patterns could be found in the data. This is called content analysis. Furthermore, the questionnaires considering the imagery exercises could be compared with the questionnaires about the regular practice session. A difference in answers on these questionnaires can be an indicator for effects of the imagery exercises. Finally, the difference between what the participant perceives between the two pieces could be compared to what the audience experienced during the concert. If the audience perceived a difference between the two pieces, this can also be an indicator for effects of mental imagery. Finally, the recordings of the practice sessions formed an important basis for analysis.

Since there might be an effect on the performance just because of the fact that there is a new thing introduced, the practice habits of the participant were also tracked before the experiment took place. The participant was asked to fill out the template before and after each practice session. The template asked about the same things that was later asked during the experiment. Eventually, it was important to compare the results of the normal practice habits to the normal practice sessions to see if the intervention itself had an influence on the outcome.

Validity & reliability

The choice for a single case study can be risky – especially when the case is the researcher herself. In general, it is advised to use only single-case studies when the case is extreme, critical, typical or deviant. This means that the case is of extremely high value to the central variable or that when the case turns out to be valid, it is valid for many cases. This is difficult to assess since what works for a musician and what does not is a very personal experience. However, the choice of a single-case study fits the purpose of this research best, since it indicates my own experiences as a musician. It is important to keep in mind however, due to the lack of external validity, that the results from this research may not be valid for other cases.

Another important factor influencing the validity and reliability of this research are my personal expectations. Since I have read a lot about the theory behind mental imagery, I had certain expectations. Therefore, my experience with the mental imagery exercises might be biased compared to someone who has never heard of it before she tries the exercises. This bias might have caused me to observe effects, that might not have been there if I didn’t know anything about mental imagery. This is also called the observer bias. It indicates that the observer is likely to ignore aspects that do not fit the expectation or misinterpret these. For this reason, it was important to include recordings and audience reactions. In my experience until now I have always striven to perform every piece as well as I can.

Variables

The research question of this research is: “How can mental training help me practice more economically?” As became clear from the theoretical framework, mental training is in this study represented by a set of mental imagery exercises. These mental imagery exercises form an imagery program that was used for the intervention. In Chapter 4 the different exercises that were used are described.

Economical practice can be interpreted in many ways. Broadly, what is meant by doing something economically is that it is done in a way that is careful with the available resources since resources are assumed to be scarce. This means getting the best possible effect with a minimum use of the available resources. For this research practicing economically considers the available time, the amount of energy and the extent to which the goals are reached. In other words: it is maximum effect with minimum effort.

To answer the research question, it is important to think about what indicates an economic practice session, considering the above definition. For this research it was decided to focus on several indicators. First of all, economy can be indicated by looking at goal acquisition over time. If certain goals of a piece are reached sooner because of imagery exercises, this indicates an efficient way of practicing. Furthermore, memorization speed can indicate economy in practice. This is because when a piece is memorized faster by doing imagery exercises, it saves time later working specifically on memorization. Besides these variables, indicators for the quality of practice are of importance because a good quality of practice is likely to enhance how effective the practice is. Indicators of practice quality that are included in this research are: the level of engagement during practice, level of motivation, level of enjoyment and the level of confidence. A final factor to include is the level of tiredness after the practice session. However, this indicator can have two meanings. Being very tired after a practice session can mean that it was very useful, but it can also mean that the practice session was not that effective and therefore tiring.

The literature review showed that mental imagery can have a lot of benefits for the quality of practice. For example, Clark and Williamon (2011) showed that mental imagery improved motivation and effective practice, relaxation and arousal control as well as performance preparation and enhancement. Another benefit of mental practice is that it provides the musician with time to rest physically while continuing to practice. The expectation is that the mental imagery will have a positive influence on all these factors except for the level of tiredness. Since the imagery program is likely to enhance the effectiveness of practice, the assumption is that the participant will feel less tired after the session.

Materials and measures

Pieces

For the intervention two sonata’s from J.F. Nadermann are used: number 5 and number 6. The sonata’s have roughly the same structure and are of the same length. Technically, the two pieces have a lot of similarities: scales, triads and chords. Both pieces are not too difficult, so it is possible to study them in three weeks with a limited amount of time. Each piece consisted of four pages. Technically, the two pieces have also a lot of similarities. The introduction is not too difficult but requires creativity in interpretation and the allegro requires the player to be able to play scales very fast and steady. The pieces can be found below.

Procedure for the imagery piece:

Sonata 5 - Imagery Piece

Sonata 6 - Normal Piece

Next Chapter →

Introduction

Theoretical Framework

Mental Imagery Exercises

Methodology

Results

Conclusions

Discussion

Implications

Literature

THE EFFECT OF MENTAL IMAGERY IN DAILY PRACTICE