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This version was published on April 1, 2008
Psychology of Music, Vol. 36, No. 2, 139-155 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0305735607080840
© 2008 Society for Education, Music, and Psychology Research

Silent illumination: a study on Chan (Zen) meditation, anxiety, and musical performance quality

Peter Lin

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, USA, PL2107{at}columbia.edu

Joanne Chang

CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, USA, Jcw{at}hotmail.com

Vance Zemon

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY, USA, Vepman{at}aol.com

Elizabeth Midlarsky

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, USA, em142{at}columbia.edu

This study investigated the effects of Chan (Zen) meditation on musical performance anxiety and musical performance quality. Nineteen participants were recruited from music conservatories and randomly assigned to either an eight-week meditation group or a wait-list control group. After the intervention, all participants performed in a public concert. Outcome measures were performance anxiety and musical performance quality. Meditation practiced over a short term did not significantly improve musical performance quality. The control group demonstrated a significant decrease in performance quality with increases in performance anxiety. The meditation group demonstrated the opposite effect — a positive linear relation between performance quality and performance anxiety. This finding indicates that enhanced concentration and mindfulness (silent illumination), cultivated by Chan practice, might enable one to channel performance anxiety to improve musical performance.

Key Words: acceptance • Buddhism • mindfulness • performance anxiety • vipassana


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