Page 20 - How to Shine on Stage

tures, to activate optimal attention and concentration, as well as to train
their memory. They need to be in possession of emotional and social
competences (Hallam, 2012). It is therefore not surprising that active
engagement in music has numerous and manifold impacts on an in-
dividual’s overall development, as the transferential aspects of playing
an instrument/singing are translated into physical, emotional, mental,
and social development (Habe, 2020). The crucial processes in the for-
mation of musical talent are the those of self-regulation at the mental
18 and motivational level, which accompany the musician primarily dur-
ing practice, but also in performance. This provides the grounds on
which young musicians form their own musical self-image, an integral
part of which is their performance self-image. An individual’s experi-
How to Shine on Stage pects of self-evaluation: how they evaluate themselves in terms of their
ence of their own musical performance success is based on multiple as-
motor skills (e.g. how good their vocal abilities are), their self-image in
terms of regulating their emotions in performance (e.g. are they capa-
ble of expressing a variety of emotions in performance, are they able
to relax on stage, are they able to activate an optimal level of energy
on stage), and their self-image in the social domain (e.g. how well they
connect with other musicians on stage, how well they are able to con-
nect with the audience). These three aspects are also complemented by
self-image, which relates directly to the evaluation of one’s own musical
abilities in a learning/professional environment.
Musical success is therefore, as previously noted, determined not
only by technical and musical excellence, but perhaps more importantly
by a variety of environmental and psychosocial factors (Subotnik, 2004;
Subotnik et al., 2016; MacNamara et al., 2008; MacNamara et al., 2014;
MacNamara & Collins, 2009; Subotnik & Knotek, 2009). We can speak
of the psychological characteristics of developing mastery (MacNa-
mara et al., 2010), which include mental imagery, focus and distractor
control, and objective performance evaluation, as well as attribution-
al appropriateness, commitment, planning and organization, goal-set-
ting, self-strengthening, practice quality, resilience, self-regulation, and
the formation and use of a supportive social network. Additional charac-
teristics reported in musicians are creativity, spontaneity, and flexibility
(Talbot-Honeck & Orlick, 1998).
For many decades, the literature on achieving optimal musical per-
formance focused mainly on the problematic aspects of performance.
Positive psychology, which builds on the humanist principles in order
to optimize an individual’s potentials on the path to self-actualization,
has emphasized for 30 years that optimal functioning cannot only be