Impact of performance anxiety on the accuracy of the singing voice among music students

Performance anxiety causes physical and cognitive symptoms. This emotional state can affect the vocal features thus the fundamental frequency which is the main parameter to evaluate the singing voice accuracy. The aim of this study is to observe the impact of performance anxiety on the singing voice accuracy.
31 music students from the Royal Conservatories of Belgium sang a melody three times. Twice in quiet situations and one time in a stress situation (the day of the examination). This performance was rated by a panel of teachers. The anxiety level was controlled by measuring the heart frequency. We analyzed errors concerning the interval accuracy and the respect of the tonal center.
We observe that the heart frequency is significantly higher in the stress situation (F(2,28)=15,18 ; p<.001), especially for advanced students. The students have difficulty to maintain the tonal center (F(2,12)=7,17 ; p=.03), whereas the accuracy of the intervals is not altered (F(2,12)=1,1 ; p=.56). The rating of the jury correlates with interval accuracy (r=-.411; p=.03) and respect of the tonal center (r=-.452; p=.016), particularly at the beginning of the melody (r=-.516; p=.005).
To conclude, performance anxiety leads to an increase of the heart frequency and alters the respect of the tonal center. This is particularly the case for advanced students for whom this situation is a real challenge.