This chapter presents the results obtained through the intervention according to data from the questionnaires and the logbook. It is relevant to mention that even though in chapter 4: Intervention, I mentioned that two interventions were made. Due to time constraints, this chapter will only collect data about the first intervention held in the Hague. The information about the second intervention will be shared in the Research Symposium, complementing the one I present on this chapter. Due to the number of participants, the data was analysed treating the subjects as case studies and as explained in chapter 4, will be treated differently depending on the methodology used.
The logbook was used to measure the stress levels of the participants before and after the Applied Relaxation and Mindfulness exercises. The stress level indicated in the images below is the average of the subjects' stress scores during each of the four weeks.
Figure 4: Average stress levels of the week 1 before / after Applied Relaxation and Mindfulness exercises.
Figure 6: Average stress levels of the week 3 before / after Applied Relaxation and Mindfulness exercises.
As we can see in these graphs, the stress levels were always lower after performing the exercises. Furthermore, here are a few of the observations written in the logbooks by the subjects:
- “Today, I felt mentally a bit more stressed. After the exercises, the stress became milder.”
- “On the last day of this first week I can definitely see how my focus has improved with the passing of time and growing familiarity with the exercises. I am curious about what it will bring in the coming weeks.”
- “Before practising the new piece. It is a nice way to get into the mindset of productive, planned practice.”
These observations are in line with the results compiled in the graphs and confirm that the subjects were able to immerse themselves in a state of greater productivity thanks to the exercises.
Main Findings:
- In all of the weeks the average mental and physical stress scores went down after performing Applied Relaxation and Mindfulness.
- Almost every subject stated feeling improvement in their focus in the last phases of the intervention.
- Each participant had different preferences about when to do the exercises, for some it was more effective to do them in the morning and some people preferred afternoon / night.
- Participants found it easier to concentrate after the exercises.
Question 1: Describe how you go about learning a new piece.
- We find vague answers in some of the participants referring to self-regulation (FOOTNOTE estas explicaciones están en el chapter 4), from which we can state that subjects 1 and 4 had problems with self-regulation in their practice. Subjects 2 and 3 showed clear self-regulation in their practice, subject 2 showed good goal-oriented practice and subject 3 showed a more strategy-based practice.
- Subjects 1 and 2 showed knowledge of different practice methods.
- Subjects 2 and 3 showed that they followed structured and thoughtful practice sessions.
- None of the participants showed hints of exploratory practice in their answer about learning new pieces.
Question 2: How much do you normally enjoy your practice? (1-7 rating and explanation possible)
- Subject 1 stated that he gets mentally and physically tired more easily when the pieces are more demanding and likes more the practicing sessions when he knows what to practice.
- Subject 2 states: “The first phase of work, so the reading phase, is my favorite, unearthing the secrets and beginning to imagine what story lies behind that composition and how I will become part of that story.”
- Subject 3 stated that enjoys practice more at the beginning, when its more exploratory but it gets more tedious because of the difficulties in maintaining focus for long periods of time.
- Subject 4 stated that he enjoys practicing a lot but is often very harsh on himself and often finds trouble in finding solutions to problems.
Question 3: How much do you normally enjoy your performances? (1-7 rating and explanation possible)
- They all enjoy performing but it is necessary to mention that Participant number 3 struggles with anxiety specially when playing solo. “I get physically very tense and I find it hard to calm down my heartbeat which I try to do with some basic box breathing exercises straight ahead of the performance.”
Question 4: Do you experience physical stress or pain when performing? And what about mental stress? (explanation)
- Subject 4 has experienced stress, mentally and sometimes physically.
- Subject 3 stated the following: “I struggle a lot with mental stress, as said above. That influences deeply my ability to physically relax, highlighting tension where I generally have it (e.g. in the neck) and bringing it into areas where I usually am able to solve it with practicing (e.g. in my forearms). Lately, though, said tension has not gotten to the point of actual pain.”
- Subjects 1 and 2 don’t seem to have problems with physical / mental stress or pain.
Question 5: Do you usually use any imagery or relaxation exercise? Which one?
- Subjects 2 and 3 were familiar with some relaxation exercises like tai chi and breathing exercises.
- Subjects 1 and 4 were not used to perform relaxation exercises.
Question 1: Did something change in the process of studying a piece during the intervention from what you were used to doing?
- Subject 1 stated that he benefited a lot from the Mental – Physical combination exercise, since it allowed him to phrase a lot easier and in a more natural way.
- Subject 2 realized that you have to understand fatigue and that you can relax without interrupting the study session.
- Subject 3 found very useful the goal setting exercise and the analysis helped him a lot get a clearer overview of the piece.
- Subject 4 found the organization exercises really helpful as well.
Question 2: Did you enjoy more your practice during the intervention?
- Subject 1 stated that he enjoyed more because he could study in a more relaxed and patient way, looking at it less like an obligation, helping him meditate more about how to solve problems.
- Subject 2 didn’t enjoy more the study sessions, he learned a different approach to learning and that he liked that very much.
- Subject 3 also had similar levels of enjoyment but with much higher levels of gratification from the goal-oriented strategies of the routine.
- Subject 4 also had similar levels of enjoyment but liked a lot the organisation part of the routine.
Question 3: How much did you enjoy the post-intervention concert? (1-7 rating and explanation possible)
- They all stated that there were many things that they would have liked to improve before playing their pieces in a performance, but they enjoyed the performance even though they played a piece that they learned in such short time.
- It is interesting to indicate the improvement of the enjoyment levels on subject 3, which went from a 3/7 to a 5/7. He stated that he was still stressed during the performance, but the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere at the concert made him feel at ease.
Question 4: Do you want to continue with any of these exercises? Which ones do you find most helpful?
- Subject 1 stated that he benefited a lot from the Mental – Physical combination exercise and he will continue using it.
- Subject 2 thought that the Mindfulness and Applied Relaxation exercises were interesting and that he will use them, especially in stressful moments.
- Subject 3 stated that he also benefited and will keep using the Mental – Physical combination exercise and the goal-oriented practice strategy.
- Subject 4 mainly mentioned the study phase of the routine, with the Mental – Physical combination exercise as a solution for problematic parts.
Question 5: Was it challenging for you to do the relaxation and mindfulness exercises every day? Would you adopt that into your daily routine?
- All of them stated that the exercises were challenging, specially in the early stages of the intervention, but they all would like to keep doing them when they feel that they need them.
Question 6: Do you think your ability to focus has improved?
- All of them stated that their ability to focus has undoubtedly improved.
- Subject 3 stated: “I must say, that being someone that struggles with memory issues, I was pleased with how I managed to get through with the performance by heart of this new piece, so I would say that my focus has improved especially thanks to the imagination of the full performance in the days leading up to it.”
Question 7: Did you expect the results you got from the intervention? Were they better / worse than you usually have when studying a piece?
- Some of them, like subjects 2 and 3, expected the results, while subjects 1 and 4 didn’t. All of them still felt that the intervention was successful. For those who expected the results, they were not let down, and for those who didn’t, the intervention exceeded their expectations.
- Subject 4 stated: “This experiment made me better especially in terms of organizing things, so I learned how I can figure out my problems, and how to work on them.”
- Subject 1 stated: “I didn’t expect the results, now I feel more patient with myself.”
Main Findings:
- The subjects improved in performance and practice enjoyment and learned a set of tools that helped them make their practice sessions more complete, which was the main focus of this research.
- Subjects who already had a more structured and thoughtful practice session routines, showed more interest in the focus and mental exercises, while those who had less structure found more benefit in the organization and study exercises of the routine.
The Bett’s QMI helped track the mental skills of the subjects throughout the whole intervention and was our way to objectively see their improvements. These are the final scores of the 4 Questionnaires they filled. They were made before the intervention and after each one of the phases.
Main Findings:
- 3 of the 4 subjects improved their imaginative skills in only one month thanks to the routine.
- The subject 3 is a special case that I didn’t expect to have. After questioning him about why his scores went down significantly as time passed by, I can state that it seems that this particular subject lost his confidence in this exercise. He didn’t think that he was good at it, and it connected to his mindset, affecting his performance in the exercise, making it that the more he thought about it, the worse he performed at the questionnaire. This could be a reason for his scores, but there could also be more personal reasons to it that the research can’t reach.
In the next chapter, I will draw my conclusions from the data stated above and recommend which steps should be taken to continue researching in the future.
Figure 5: Average stress levels of the week 2 before / after Applied Relaxation and Mindfulness exercises.
