Author(s)

Meng Chen ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Art College, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China

Corresponding Author

Meng Chen

ABSTRACT

This study compared the recognition and the usage of imagery among China university music students with different majors (i.e. instrument and vocal) to explore whether the different learning pathways may provide various influences on musicians' imagery creation. Eighty-six music students from Shandong University of Science and Technology were recruited as participants. Analysis of the questionnaires revealed that the term "musical imagery" had been commonly introduced to students mainly by their teachers rather than from books or the internet. In addition, instrumental students (both Western and Chinese styles) demonstrated more familiarity in recognizing and applying imagery within their practice and daily life than vocal students. In contrast, the Chinese traditional vocal students received the lowest scores among all questions within the questionnaires and presented less interest in employing imagery within their daily practice. Conclusively, this small-scale research provided a glance at the understanding of musical imagery among Chinese university students. It is expected to stimulate the China music psychology research community to pay closer attention to music imagery study for empirically exploring practical strategies and pedagogy for further benefiting music students and their studies.

KEYWORDS

Musical imagery, Chinese and Western, Instrumental and vocal

CITE THIS PAPER

Meng Chen, Investigation of the Understanding and Application of Musical Imagery in China University Music Students. Applied & Educational Psychology (2023) Vol. 4: 54-58. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/appep.2023.040308.

REFERENCES

[1] Keller P. E. (2012). Mental imagery in music performance: underlying mechanisms and potential benefits. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1252, 206–213.
[2] Connolly C., & Williamon, A. (2004). Mental skills training. In A. Williamon (Ed.), Musical excellence: Strategies and techniques to enhance performance (pp. 221–245). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 
[3] Jakubowski K. (2020). Musical Imagery. In A. Abraham (Ed.), the Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 187-206). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
[4] Rubin-Rabson G. (1941). Studies in the psychology of memorizing piano music. VI: a comparison of two forms of mental rehearsal and keyboard overlearning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 32(8), 593.
[5] Davidson-Kelly K., Schaefer, R. S., Moran N., & Overy, K. (2015). "Total inner memory": Deliberate uses of multimodal musical imagery during performance preparation. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 25(1), 83.
[6] Keller P. E., & Koch I. (2008). Action planning in sequential skills: relations to music performance. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 61, 275–291.
[7] Bishop L., Bailes F., & Dean R. T. (2013). Musical imagery and the planning of dynamics and articulation during performance. Music Perception, 31(2), 97–117.
[8] Williamon A. (2004). Musical Excellence: Strategies and Techniques to Enhance Performance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[9] Clark T., & Williamon A. (2011). Evaluation of a mental skills training program for musicians. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23(3), 342-359.

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Advances in Educational Technology and Psychology
  
  
• Curriculum and Teaching Methodology
  
  
• Transactions on Comparative Education
  
  
• Advances in Vocational and Technical Education
  
  
• Adult and Higher Education