Paul G. Salmon & Robert G. Meyer, Notes from the Green Room: Coping with Stress and Anxiety in Musical Performance, Lexington Books, N.Y. 1992; 231 pp., ISBN 0-669-25010-4
Abstract
BooksPaul G. Salmon & Robert G. Meyer, Notes from the Green Room: Coping with Stress and Anxiety in Musical Performance, Lexington Books, N.Y. 1992; 231 pp., ISBN 0-669-25010-4 SAGE Publications, Inc.1993DOI: 10.1177/025576149302200119 David Roland The performance arts in general lag behind other areas of human endeavour in the application of knowledge available through interdisciplinary fields such as psychology and medicine. There is no doubt that the area of sports psychology, for example, has added enormously to enhancing the competitive effectiveness of amateur and professional athletes. A similar application of psychological knowledge to musical performance can also be of great benefit. Psychological techniques can increase the performers' sense of control during performance and enable them to reproduce the sound they have worked on in rehearsals. A psychological understanding of performing can also be used to increase the potential for creative expression. Notes from the Green Room is a valuable step towards alerting performers to the potential gains to be achieved through the application of psychological practices. It should dispel the sense that some performers may have that a psychologist is appropriate only for performers with serious personal difficulties. The book's main strength is that it is written by two