Music Education Research

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I have a voice but I just can't sing: a narrative

investigation of singing and social anxiety

Carlos R. Abril

To cite this article: Carlos R. Abril (2007) I have a voice but I just can't sing: a narrative
investigation of singing and social anxiety, Music Education Research, 9:1, 1-15, DOI:
10.1080/14613800601127494

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Published online: 31 Jan 2007.

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Music Education Research
Vol. 9, No. 1, March 2007, pp. 1
15

I have a voice but I just can’t sing: a

narrative investigation of singing and
social anxiety
Carlos R. Abril*
Northwestern University, Illinois, USA

The purpose of this study was to investigate adult singing anxieties arising within the context of a
music methods course. Participants were three female elementary education majors who reported
suffering from anxiety related to singing. Anxiety toward singing was evidenced through
observations and participants’ descriptions of cognitive, somatic, behavioral, and affective
symptoms. Several themes emerged from data collected over a 10-week period through participant
journals, interviews, and field texts. Singing anxiety only seemed to arise within a social context,
where participants seemed concerned with the possibility that they would be personally evaluated
by others. The self-presentational theory of social anxiety was supported by these cases. All
participants traced the roots of their anxiety to negative experiences in a school music program.
Music teachers and family members seemed to have the greatest influence in shaping their beliefs
about singing ability and singer identity.

Introduction
Singing is an integral component of teaching music at the elementary level.
Therefore, elementary music methods and fundamentals courses for preservice
elementary teachers (called generalists hereafter) devote a substantial portion of class
time to singing (Gauthier & McCrary, 1999; Frego & Abril, 2003). Objectives in
these courses and related textbooks often focus on the development of vocal and
song-teaching skills, with the hope that singing will be integrated in the classroom
(e.g., Lewis, 2001; Anderson & Lawrence, 2004). However, anxieties toward music-
making in general, and singing in particular, can prevent these objectives from being
achieved. Generalists lacking musical skills and understanding may be ill-prepared to
provide their students with music instruction.
Preservice and inservice generalists have been found to be more apprehensive
about teaching music than most other school subjects (Mills, 1989; Jeanneret, 1997).
Research has found a connection between a teacher’s confidence level and the
incorporation of musical activities in the classroom (Barry, 1992). Furthermore, a

*Northwestern University, School of Music, 711 Elgin Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Email: [email protected]
ISSN 1461-3808 (print)/ISSN 1469-9893 (online)/07/010001-15
# 2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/14613800601127494
2 C. R. Abril

teacher’s level of competence with a particular subject can serve as a predictor of

student learning (Cassidy, 1990). It may be that generalists’ perceptions of musical
competence have an affect on their instructional decisions to sing or not to sing in the
classroom.
Several factors may contribute to the formation of attitudes toward music and its
role in the elementary curriculum. Studies support the claim that past music
experiences have an affect on an individual’s attitude toward music (Gifford, 1993),
involvement with music (Bowles, 1991), and desire to teach music (Lundin &
Sandberg, 2001). Richards (1999) found that positive or negative musical
experiences are often associated with school music. Apfelstadt (1989) reported
that generalists, with positive singing experiences in grade school, or whose
immediate family members were involved with music, expressed more positive
attitudes toward singing. Generalists’ experiences with school music have been found
to have a positive relationship with their value for music and its role in the classroom
(Barry, 1992). Abril and Gault (2005) found a positive relationship between attitude
toward past school music experience and value for music instruction in the school
curriculum. The aforementioned studies support the notion that past experiences
with music serve as predictors of future attitudes and beliefs about music.
Asmus (1986) examined children’s beliefs about success and failure in music. He
found that they attribute success or failure in music to talent more than to effort.
Females were found to make more of these ability attributions than males. This
belief, thought to become more pronounced in older individuals, can potentially lead
to complaisant students, who believe they were not born to sing or play an
instrument. Generalists’ musical development in a methods or fundamentals course
might be hampered by these notions.
In a survey of preservice primary teachers’ beliefs about talent versus training in
relation to singing, 51% of respondents believed they could become ‘good’ singers
with training and 70% believed they could make some improvements (Richards,
1999). Attitudes and beliefs about singing and general musical ability have been
found to remain fairly stable, even after taking courses in music fundamentals and/or
methods (Gifford, 1993; Richards, 1999). These studies suggest that a substantial
portion of generalists believe singing cannot be learned, and a methods course may
have no affect on these views. The belief that musical ability cannot be improved
through education could plausibly lead to anxiety in participating in a music methods
course.

Anxiety
Leary and Kowalski (1995) assert that anxiety entails four distinct experiences
reflecting cognitive, somatic, behavioral, and affective symptoms. People who suffer
from anxiety are apt to think about or dwell upon the action or phenomenon causing
anxiety. They are also likely to experience somatic symptoms such as heart rate
increases, palpitations, hives, sweaty palms, dry mouth and the like. These
 Singing and social anxiety 3

individuals often act to escape from the anxiety-causing experience over extended
periods of time. Finally, the experience may cause unpleasant feelings, such as
depression, anger, or loneliness. An extreme state of anxiety toward some
phenomenon is classified as a phobia. This type of anxiety is thought to be ‘out of
proportion with to the degree of threat that is really present . . . [and] the intense
feelings of anxiety cannot be reasoned away’ (Leary & Kowalski, 1995, p. 11).
Social anxiety is a fear that arises as a result of a particular social situation. It is
evoked by the real or imagined concern that others are evaluating you (Holt et al.,
1992). The fear of singing in a classroom may be explained by the self-presentational
theory of social anxiety, as described by Schlenker and Leary (1982). They assert
that anxiety arises from one’s motivation to make a desirable impression on another
individual or group of people. The level of anxiety arising within the individual is
related to the subjective probability that the behavior is likely to occur as desired. In
other words, an individual’s anxiety is proportional to their perceived level of control
over a given situation. For example, if a generalist believes he or she is capable of
controlling the vocal mechanism while singing, in a manner acceptable to others, the
less likely he or she is to suffer from anxiety when asked to do so in a social setting.
Extant music research supports the case that performance anxiety is heightened
when it occurs within a social context. The presence of authorities such as educators
or individuals in the peer group can increase anxiety (Hamann, 1982; LeBlanc,
1994). Further, the mere knowledge that someone might be evaluating a
performance has been shown to raise anxiety levels in musicians (Brotons, 1994).
Research has shown that performing in front of peers causes significantly more
anxiety in high school students than doing so alone, or even for authority figures
(LeBlanc et al., 1997). Richards (1999) found that 95% of preservice generalists
sampled, agreed they would be willing to sing along with the radio or a recording, as
long as they were alone. Not surprisingly, 80% of participants indicated they would
not enjoy teaching a song to their peers. This implies that the social dimension of
singing causes the anxiety, not the behavior itself.
The sense that anxiety arises as a result of being out of control over a situation has
also been reported to happen in music performance. Senyshyn and O’Neil (2001)
conducted in-depth interviews with seven undergraduate students before and
immediately after their music recitals. Researchers found that undergraduate
musicians associated anxiety with negative performance variables that were out of
their control. Many participants described the anxiety as an extraneous entity that
occupied a position of power over their musical skills and abilities. Furthermore,
anxiety seemed to be exacerbated by the self-perpetuating view of uncontrollability.
A certain level of anxiety has been found to be beneficial yet the perceived loss of
control can be detrimental (Kokotsaki & Davidson, 2003). Ryan (2004) found that
sixth-grade girls were more likely to self-report being nervous about performing in a
piano recital than were boys.
4 C. R. Abril

Many studies have examined performance anxiety in musicians yet few have
studied the nature and roots of anxiety in generalists. Generalists may not attribute
musical ability to hard work or practice; therefore, it is plausible they feel incapable of
improving their musical skills in a university course. As such, they may suffer from
anxiety surrounding music making or teaching music, which in turn, might affect
their own students’ musical experiences in the future.
The primary purpose of this study was to examine singing anxieties that result
from experiences in an elementary music methods course for non-music majors.
Specific questions guiding the study included: What is the nature of participants’
singing anxiety? What do they attribute as the cause of their musical/singing anxiety?
What are their feelings and beliefs surrounding music and singing, and how were
those shaped by their lived experience?

Procedures
Clandinin and Connelly (2000) describe a narrative approach to inquiry as utilizing
the stories of people’s lived experiences as a way to shed light on a particular
phenomenon. These stories are reconstructed memories, shared, interpreted, and
reinterpreted by both participant and researcher. This approach to research
effectively captures the way in which people view, understand, and make sense of
their experiences. Research questions guiding this study seemed to be most
effectively examined through narrative inquiry because of the need to construct
understanding of the present through participants’ reflections and reconstructions of
the past. Stories shared by participants could shed light on their current perceptions
and feelings. The cases presented here are not meant to be generalized to some larger
population; they are presented as a way of better understanding people’s views of
singing and the situations that contributed to their feelings of anxiety. The findings
may serve to support extant research or provide a springboard for discussing possible
transfers to other contexts or situations.

Participants
Participants were recruited from an elementary music methods course taught at a
large midwestern university in the United States. This course was a requirement for
graduation and state teacher licensure. All but one of the students enrolled in the
course were female. On the initial class meeting, I asked them to complete a survey to
determine the extent of their musical experiences and abilities. One open-ended
question asked them to describe anything they would like the instructor to know. As
was typical in my experience teaching these courses, a portion of students claimed
they had little or no musical talent or ability. Of these students, three expressed
serious concerns regarding taking this course because of their fear of singing and
general lack of musical ability. These women agreed to serve as participants in the
study that unfolded over the period of 10 weeks.
 Singing and social anxiety 5

Data collection
Data were collected through three structured interviews, participant journals, and
field texts (which included observations of participants in the classroom setting,
details of informal conversations, email correspondences, and my interpretations of
events). The initial interview questions were developed as informed by my knowl-
edge of the research literature and personal experiences teaching students who
suffered from self-reported singing anxiety. Questions served to guide each interview
but were not asked in the same order or in exactly the same manner for each
participant. Subsequent interview questions were drafted in response to participant-
specific issues that arose in prior interviews or journal entries. I sought to establish
rapport with participants by beginning each interview with casual conversation,
which gradually centered on matters under investigation. To ascertain the trust-
worthiness of my interpretations, participants were periodically provided with copies
of the field texts to read and comment upon. Their comments and suggestions were
considered, and occasionally helped to reshape my interpretations of events, stories,
or situations. Triangulation was achieved by cross-referencing the field text, journals,
and interview transcripts.

Analysis
Data were analyzed by studying the unabridged interview transcripts and partici-
pants’ writings, as well as my field texts. Responses were then categorized according
to their ability to shed light on the various focus issues. At that point, patterns and
relationships began to emerge from the data, both within and among participants.
Results are presented as individual narrative cases, after which they are discussed
collectively.

Results and interpretations

Melissa
Melissa often arrived to class early, engaging herself in conversation with peers who
were members of the same elementary education cohort. Twenty-two years old at the
time of this investigation, Melissa was one year shy of graduation. On the initial class
survey, she reported having ‘no ear for music’ and admitted being ‘uncomfortable
singing.’ Upon being informed she would be required to teach her peers to sing a
song as a part of the course, she claimed to become ‘physically ill’ and
‘uncomfortable.’
Part of the anxiety this assignment caused for her seemed to arise from her inability
to determine expectations. She said, ‘I just don’t know what we should sound like
when we sing. Are we supposed to sing like Britney Spears [pop singer]? Or like those
people I hear singing in this building [referring to students practicing in the music
school]?’ Melissa assumed that singing in a formal setting, such as a music school,
6 C. R. Abril

was something an individual did by trade or training, not something everyone could
do. She explained: ‘Professional singers know how to sing by using their high-pitched
voices. It is not in my voice to do it. We [she and her peers] are not singers.’ Without
the ability to know what others expected of her, she was unable to control the
impression she desired to make on others. She seemed a bit relieved once I described
the expectations and pragmatic uses of singing in the elementary school classroom.
Nonetheless, she claimed to continue feeling uncomfortable singing in class, and was
‘horrified to have to sing’ by herself.
Whenever Melissa sang in the classroom, she seemed to be in a heightened state of
self-awareness. She often sang with a grin on her face, occasionally looking side-to-
side, as if vigilant of her peers. Discussions with Melissa supported my observations.
She said she felt self-conscious whenever the class sang, and was always wondering
whether she would be asked to sing alone*the thought of which was enough to
/

produce ‘butterflies in [her] stomach.’ This was her first time singing in a formal class
setting since she was 10 years old.
A series of self-reinforcing experiences in Melissa’s childhood contributed to the
anxiety she experienced as a university student. She described these experiences:
As a child I never measured up when I would open my mouth to sing (or try to at least).
What made it worse was that my younger sister had a beautiful voice . . . she was always
singing around the house and getting praised . . . I was constantly compared to
her . . . My family used to tell me I wasn’t as good a singer as she was . . . and my
brother was much worse than that when referring to my voice . . . to make things worse I
was also compared to my poor singing mother who even admitted she was terrible.

Members of her family discouraged her from singing and never attempted to help her
improve; rather, they provided a summative judgment of her ability in reference to
others.
School music experiences generally conjured up negative memories for Melissa.
One ‘memorable’ event would have a strong impact on her beliefs about singing:
When I was in sixth-grade we had the option of being in the choir. I wanted to be in [it]
so badly*/I thought I might be picked despite what my family said about me. For the
audition, the teacher went around the room, knelt by each person, and took notes . . . I
was terrified as he came to me because I knew it was all or nothing (I remember my
heart thumping so loudly) . . . Well, I didn’t make the cut . . . and what made it worse was
that all my friends did. I was devastated! I quit singing after that because I figured all
these people must be right about me*/my music teacher was the music expert! That
really shattered my musical self-image. Since then I’ve felt pretty incapable.

In addition to reinforcing suspicions about her singing ability, there was a social
dimension to this narrative. Melissa felt as if she had been ‘punished for [her] lack of
musical ability,’ by not being permitted to become a part of the social group. As a
result, she felt socially isolated, as all her friends participated and she was ‘left out
[and] lonely.’ Leary and Kowalski (1995) assert that social anxiety is an emotion
involved in the avoidance of being rejected.
 Singing and social anxiety 7

Melissa attributed the ability to sing to a natural ‘gift’ or ‘talent,’ whereas other
musical skills could be learned. She explained:
I didn’t realize you could be taught to sing. I just thought you were born with it . . . you
can teach me to move my hands*/like for piano you walk through the steps and practice
[she moves her hands up and down as if she were at a keyboard]. I know that because I
took piano lessons*/I can do that. But singing is just not the same. You can’t really see
or feel your voice. How can you teach it?

Melissa’s level of anxiety seemed to be dependent on the context in which singing

occurred. Singing alone posed no problems; she often sang ‘in the shower’ or ‘in the
car.’ The presence of others, however, affected her desire to sing. She was keenly
aware of her audience:
I think I’ll be able to do it in the classroom when I’m a teacher because I want to work
with real little ones . . . When my nieces were young I would sing songs with them and
enjoyed it. Now that they’re older I no longer sing with them because I feel
uncomfortable*/I am just so self-conscious. They are old enough to judge, so I just
avoid the situation . . . I hate to think of singing in front of the [university] class.

In the last week of the course, as she prepared for her song-teaching project, I asked
her to describe how she felt about having to sing. She summed up her views:
It is helpful that we are singing a lot in class and aren’t being judged as we do it. But I
just know I can’t sing and feel I can’t get better at it. It is already in me. I know you tell
me that I can sing on pitch*/you showed me when we worked together here*/but I have
a hard time believing that . . . It would have to go over years and times I’ve been told that
I can’t. It’s not going to happen in this class. I hear what you are saying but it has little
effect on me. I have a voice, I can talk and even speak in front of others with no problem,
but I just can’t sing.

Melanie
At the age of 21, Melanie was a confident and gregarious student. She regularly
engaged in classroom discussions, often surfaced as the leader in small group work,
and enthusiastically participated in music-making activities. Judging from those
behaviors, I was puzzled by her self-reported claim of suffering from singing anxiety.
On the initial classroom survey, she indicated to be ‘very nervous about having to
sing in class.’
Overall, Melanie had a positive attitude toward music. She claimed to listen to
music as a stress reliever and as a way to positively enhance her moods. While she
enjoyed singing along with music, she admitted, ‘I only sing along with my music
when it’s playing real loud . . . I don’t want to hear myself.’ As a child, she and her
siblings were encouraged to participate in musical activities. Her mother and father
used to ‘sing around the house and encourage’ their kids to ‘sing along.’ She recalled
enjoying those experiences because ‘they were so much fun.’ She later added that it
was different from other experiences singing because she was not being evaluated.
8 C. R. Abril

Melanie had no memory of anyone ever commenting upon or providing her with
feedback regarding her singing as a young child.
It was in early adolescence that she became aware of what she described as a ‘lack
of musical ability.’ Her first memory of someone judging her singing happened as a
fifth-grader auditioning for the school choir. In many ways, her story resembled
Melissa’s. She described her experience:
I really wanted to sing in my school choir but we had to try out . . . I remember that I
went into the room to sing for the two music teachers who were sitting at a desk with
clipboards . . . after I sang something*/I don’t even remember what it was*/I kinda
knew I didn’t do well. I just remember them cutting me off and saying ‘thank you’*/like
the old cliché. I remember the day they posted the list on the board with all the parts and
people’s names. I ran up to the sheet*/there were a lot of people already there*/and my
friend said ‘you’re not there.’ I was heartbroken . . . it really hurt my self-esteem
regarding my musical ability . . . Of course I wanted to be in the group with my friends
too. That was the first time I ever even thought of being judged in music. After all those
years, I am going to be judged again, and I’m pretty stressed about it.

She joined the band in high school but recalls struggling to keep pace with her peers.
She says, ‘playing music was one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do. I cried
and cried because I couldn’t keep up. I just couldn’t get the beat and play the
rhythms. I struggled so much.’ Singing has proven as challenging a skill. Of her
singing at present, she said, ‘When the [recorded] music stops, I realize I must be
tone deaf or something because I can’t sing*the sound is awful! I would love to get
/

better but don’t know what to do with my voice . . . I think it’s hopeless.’ Her lack of
successful experiences making music has contributed to her anxiety surrounding
singing in the methods course.
The singing itself was not the cause of her anxiety; it was the knowledge that she
would be formally judged, based on her ability to sing. She explained:
I have always been a straight ‘A’ student and I fear that my problems with music are
going to seriously affect my grade in this class. I have major anxiety over not being able
to do well on any of our projects or assignments that involve making music, especially
singing. It all seems so overwhelming because I know that no matter what I do or how
hard I try I won’t be able to do it. It’s not like another course where I can study and
know the material better.

The mere thought of singing before her peers and in front of someone evaluating her
for a grade was enough to produce ‘sweaty palms.’ It seemed to be a combination of
factors affecting Melanie. First off, she believed that she had no control in being able
to sing. This was compounded by the fact that a ‘musical expert’ would evaluate her
singing and a grade would be assigned. I suspect that the ‘peer group’ was less of a
contributing factor for Melanie than it was for Melissa.
She shared her thoughts on musical ability:
The ability to make music is something that comes to you when you are really
young . . . you just have it or you don’t. It’s not like other subjects in school because
those you can work at and get better. I think sports and music are the same in that
 Singing and social anxiety 9

way*/it’s an inborn thing. I think teachers can help people with talent get better but if
you don’t have the raw materials they can’t do much for you.

Toward the end of the term, before her song-teaching assignment, I asked Melanie to
describe the things she was doing to prepare. She described this process:
I get all worked up about it and get pretty frustrated because I don’t think I’m getting
any better. I sing all the time in class . . . and do it more at home; I’ve even had a friend
listen to me and give me a few comments. A few of the things I’ve learned in class have
helped, but it’s still a mystery how to get my voice to sound better. I try so hard. I’m
using the rubric [created to guide students in the methods course] to ensure I cover all
my bases with the assignment. That helps a little because there are certain things I know
I can do, like memorize the words . . . it lets me rest a little easier.

Joan
Joan was clearly the oldest student in the class. I never asked her to reveal her age but
I estimated she was in her mid- to upper-fifties. As a mother of three and
grandmother of two, she was enrolled at the university to live out her ‘dream’ of
becoming an elementary school teacher. She enrolled in the music methods course,
which she described as her ‘greatest obstacle in the curriculum,’ in the last term
before her graduation. Joan admittedly postponed enrollment as long as possible and
even contacted her advisor to inquire about the possibility of exemption from the
course.
In anticipation of the course requirements, she sought information from peers who
had already completed the course. Once they informed her that singing was required,
she began to experience somatic symptoms of anxiety: ‘I spent a few restless nights
just thinking about it over and over.’ Of the first class meeting, she said, ‘I went to the
restroom right before class and was so embarrassed. I had hives all over my neck. I
was so worried we would have to sing or something.’ On several occasions, when the
class was singing, I noticed red splotches on her neck, and her eyes fixated on the
ground.
The thought of making music was what incited discomfort in Joan. She explained:
I like music. It is just that I don’t want to perform it*/I just don’t enjoy it. Well, it’s really
that I don’t feel comfortable doing in front of others. I don’t like to sing out loud. It’s
been so long since I’ve done it. But I do enjoy listening to my granddaughter sing. I
enjoy watching her perform because I feel she is sharing a part of herself with me. I’m
just not willing to do the same.

When Joan occasionally attempts to sing, she is ‘surprised to feel and hear [her] own
voice.’ It is as if her voice exists separate from her self.
On the open-ended section of the initial class survey, Joan wrote, ‘I just don’t have
much musical talent so I get very nervous if I have to sing.’ She reinforced these
beliefs in her writings and our conversations. I asked her to describe what it takes to
be able to sing. She believes one must first be able to discriminate between singing
10 C. R. Abril

and talking. (I engaged her in some discrimination activities and she was able to
distinguish between the two with perfect accuracy.) She also said, ‘[you must] match
pitch exactly as you hear it’ but quickly added that she could not do it because ‘it’s
not inside’ her. About singing, she said, ‘I just don’t know how to relate to the notes
and what to do to make my voice sing . . . it’s really a big mystery.’ She attributes her
lack of singing ability to the anxiety, which has kept her from ‘developing as a singer.’
This last comment implies that she views singing as a learned skill.
However, she revealed a different position when describing her view on singing
identities: ‘We are taught that there are singers and non-singers. I definitely associate
with the non-singer. I have just about my entire life*except when I was real young.’
/

When she was a young girl, she enjoyed singing because she was unable to recognize
those differing roles. Believing she lacked ‘musical talent,’ Joan was convinced she
was incapable of singing.
Five weeks into the project, I convinced her to sing with me in the privacy of my
office. I sat at the piano and played an accompaniment to a simple children’s song.
Although reluctant, she was able to sing on pitch. Every time she was successful, I
brought it to her attention but she seemed doubtful of my assessment. It seemed as if
she was unable to listen and evaluate her own singing. She was, however, able to
identify when I was singing on or off pitch.
After our first interview, I asked her to begin thinking about the possible causes for
her anxiety. In her journal, she wrote about a particular event that happened in fifth-
grade. This watershed moment helped to solidify her musical identity:
On several occasions my choir had to perform in church, so the teacher spent many
hours rehearsing before hand . . . I remember the teacher and the event in vivid detail.
My music teacher, Sister Bertha, is still at the front of my mind after all of these
years . . . One day, as we were singing in the classroom, she got very angry because she
heard some wrong notes . . . I thought she might have a heart attack she was so
upset . . . yelling at the top of her lungs . . . she stopped the entire group because she
heard someone off pitch. She moved around the room putting her ear close to each of
our mouths. She seemed quite determined to find the offender who messed up. I never
wanted to take the chance that she would get me . . . I thought if she would go to that
much trouble to find one wrong note coming from somewhere, she would easily go to
the same length to never let me into the church again, or worse, tell my parents. I was
always a good student in everything except music. I just didn’t want to let anyone down.

Although the teacher had never specifically pinpointed her, Joan did not want to take
the risk, thinking she would disappoint her teacher, parents, or peers. As the teacher
approached, she decided to solve the problem by mouthing the words. She said, ‘It
was from that moment on that I stopped singing. A few weeks later I quit the choir.’
She sums up the experience, saying, ‘It was that bad experience that has stifled me.
Since then I haven’t developed or grown in music. I don’t think teachers realize the
great impact they have.’ She said she feels ‘musically illiterate today’ because she was
told she was ‘no good.’ I asked her if someone had ever criticized her singing. She
thought about it, and conceded, ‘It was just the feeling I got.’
 Singing and social anxiety 11

Joan occasionally found herself in situations where she was expected to sing. She
claimed to ‘survive’ by mouthing the words at church, on birthdays, and in school.
She said, ‘When my girlfriends would get together to sing Beatles songs, I just
wouldn’t join them. In fact, I would make excuses that I had to do something else.’
She claimed that ‘no one seemed to notice or care for that matter.’ In high school, she
enrolled in a guitar class, but when she was told she would have to sing, she quit.
These avoidance behaviors, which are signs of anxiety, resulted in many missed
musical opportunities in Joan’s life.
It was not until her first child was born that she would sing again. In her role as a
mother, she felt singing was essential. She said, ‘My mother used to sing in the house
all the time so when I had my children, it seemed like I should sing to them. Singing
was a way for me to express how I felt toward them. They seemed to enjoy it and
were comforted by it.’ The model provided by her mother served to influence her
interactions with her children. Although she was engaged in a behavior she claimed
caused her anxiety, singing to a baby did not. When others were present and when
her children grew older, she avoided singing once again. As was the case with Melissa
and Melanie, Joan’s anxiety seemed arise when she perceived others might be
evaluating her*formally or informally.
/

In the last week of the methods course, Joan taught her peers a song. I asked her
how she approached the experience:
I must say I was nervous but I kept remembering the many times you stated as a matter
of fact that everyone with the ability to speak and hear could sing. You taught us to
impart those values on our students by doing and not talking about it. You modeled and
I thought about how I too served a model to my own children. You even proved to me
that I could do it when you were at the piano. You didn’t seem to do it to make me feel
good. At some point, right before I had to get up and teach my song, I realized I could
do it.

Conclusions and implications

Nature of anxiety
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the nature and roots of adult
singing anxieties in the context of an elementary methods course. Based on
interviews with and observations of Melissa, Melanie and Joan, they each seemed
to experience cognitive, somatic, behavioral, and/or affective symptoms of anxiety
(Leary & Kowalski, 1995). While I was able to observe somatic symptoms in Joan
and Melissa, I was unable to confirm Melanie’s anxiety through observations. Joan
was the only one who exhibited or described all four distinct symptoms. It may be
that one can experience some degree of anxiety surrounding a phenomenon without
experiencing all four symptoms.
For these three participants, singing anxiety only arose within a social context.
Each participant seemed threatened by the possibility of being evaluated on her
ability to sing. Melanie seemed most concerned with the formal evaluation of her
12 C. R. Abril

singing, which would result in a letter grade. Joan and Melissa reported anxiety in the
presence of anyone who might judge their singing. Joan described singing as an
intimate reflection of one’s self, which might have made her feel vulnerable and
exposed in the presence of others. The likelihood of being evaluated both formally
(instructor) and informally (peers) seemed to account for feelings of anxiety. The
self-presentational theory of social anxiety (Schlenker & Leary, 1982) was supported
by this study because anxiety arose from the subjective probability that they would be
able to behave in the manner they perceived to be desired by others. The lack of
control over the vocal mechanism likely compounded the problem.
Music instructors might observe their students for any signs of anxiety. In
identifying these emotions, instructors can plan experiences such that they do not
exacerbate the problem. Instructors of methods course might provide students with
multiple opportunities to sing in large groups without directing evaluations toward
any one person. Personalized assessments might be best provided during individua-
lized singing instruction rather than in social contexts. Informal assessments of a
formative nature might help reinforce the notion that singing is a learned behavior,
and help students improve their skills. These strategies might serve to decrease
feelings of anxiety in some. Future research might examine the effects of various
classroom settings on generalists’ anxiety toward singing.

Roots
Previous research has demonstrated a strong relationship between school music
experiences and attitudes toward music (Gifford, 1993) and singing (Apfelstadt,
1989). This seemed to be the case in the current study as well. All participants
pinpointed a specific incident in from their school music experiences, which they
related to current singing anxiety. Interestingly, all of these negative school music
experiences occurred during early adolescence. This is the time in which students are
often provided with the choice to participate in selective school music ensembles.
The underlying wisdom may be that children at this age are better prepared for
summative judgments. It seems clear from the cases described herein that the
emotional impact of these experience can have lasting effects on individuals. As the
‘experts,’ music teacher opinions or judgments may have a great impact on students.
Experiences that have a strong emotional impact are thought to have the best chance
of remaining in the memory (Lundin & Sandberg, 2001).
Family was also a contributing factor in participants’ attitudes and behaviors
regarding singing. Although Melissa’s immediate family members sang at home, they
contributed in shaping her negative attitudes and anxiety toward singing. This
contradicts Apfelstadt’s (1989) finding that generalists whose family members were
involved with music expressed positive attitudes toward singing. In contrast, Joan
fondly recalled her mother singing around the house when she was a child. That
maternal model served to positively influence Joan’s musical behaviors when she had
 Singing and social anxiety 13

children of her own. Melanie’s parents were musical and encouraged their children to
engage with music, yet this had little effect on her beliefs and attitudes about music.
Parents that model singing have differing degrees and types of effects on their
children’s musical attitudes and behaviors.

Beliefs
Prior research has reported that children attribute success or failure in music to
innate qualities such as talent (Asmus, 1986). Participants in the current study also
attributed success in music to innate characteristics. Initially, all three participants
claimed that singing was something possessed from within. They described singing
as a ‘mystery,’ something ‘you can’t see or feel,’ and coming from ‘inside.’ This might
explain why they found it difficult to believe that singing could be learned. The
abstract nature of singing might have made it difficult for them to believe it could be
learned or developed through physical efforts. Melissa believed that singing was
different from playing an instrument because the latter could be learned. Melanie
seemed to equate playing and singing; plausibly as a result of her difficulties both
singing and playing an instrument. Joan was not as consistent in her description of
musical ability. Initially she implied that singing could be learned but later
contradicted herself. At the end of the project, she seemed to realize that she could
improve her singing ability.
There are several implications for music teaching and learning. Teachers might
consider using rubrics to help guide students in developing their singing voices. This
can also serve to clearly delineate expectations. Melanie claimed the rubric provided
in the methods course relieved some of her anxiety because she could control certain
criteria. To make the singing less ‘mysterious,’ teachers may consider using visual
representations of pitch, such as hand signs or drawings. These strategies might help
students focus their attentions on various aspects of the singing process and gain a
greater sense of control.
Music educators help students build skills, conceptual understanding, and
attitudes. However, teachers that propel the notion that singing ability is an inborn
trait, which should be reserved for the talented few, may end up contributing to a
society in which self-identified ‘non-singers’ experience singing anxiety and choose
not to participate in music. Once those beliefs are solidified, they become difficult
(Richards, 1999) but not impossible to modify. Being judged by those who are
knowledgeable (adults, peers, music teachers) serves to produce anxiety in some
individuals. While teachers should not coddle students, they might use caution when
assessing students’ singing*especially during the vulnerable period of adolescence.
/

Assessment should focus on ways of helping students improve rather than assigning
judgment. It would be prudent for music educators to instill in their students
the notion that musical ability can be improved through practice and concerted
efforts.
14 C. R. Abril

Notes on contributor
Carlos Abril is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Northwestern University
where he teaches music education courses in general music, philosophy, and
multiculturalism. His research, focused on sociocultural dimensions of teaching
and learning and the general music curriculum, has been published in journals
such as Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Contributions,
International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Research in Music Education
and Music Educators Journal. He serves on the editorial boards of BCRME, Orff
Echo, Research & Issues in Music Education, and Update.

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