Kan, M.M.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-8136-2956, Dibben, N. orcid.org/0000-0002-9250-5035 and Wong, A.Y.L. (2024) A cognitive intervention to correct a maladaptive technique in organists due to prior music learning: a randomized controlled trial. Psychology of Music, 52 (1). pp. 22-37. ISSN 0305-7356
Abstract
Organists who start as skilled pianists may later maladapt their keyboard technique to play the organ. This randomized controlled study investigated the feasibility of using an audio cognitive intervention to correct organists’ playing technique. Forty participants played a music excerpt with two dynamics (soft/loud) on two musical instruments (organ/piano) at baseline, while their corresponding forearm muscle activities were measured by surface electromyography (sEMG). They also rated their playing force. Participants were then randomized to receive either a 5-min audio cognitive intervention (learning to use self-talk phrases “organists—stops/ expression pedals—minimal force” to reduce their tension in playing the organ; n = 21) or a control audio recording (instructing them to rest for 5 min; n = 19). All participants then repeated the two dynamics on the two musical instruments. The intervention group displayed significantly lower forearm sEMG muscle activity during organ playing, whereas the controls’ playing was unchanged. Our study shows that organists use unnecessary muscle tension to produce dynamics and that our intervention was effective and could improve motor control in playing the organ. Self-talk is therefore a viable way for music educators to help learners correct habitual but maladaptive techniques arising from prior learning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. Creative Commons License (CC BY 4.0) This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page. |
Keywords: | Prevention; Clinical Research; Behavioral and Social Science; Complementary and Integrative Health; Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of Music (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Jul 2023 15:49 |
Last Modified: | 04 Oct 2024 12:02 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/03057356231159194 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:201773 |