PhD Research Project

Friday 28th May 2021

Anne-Marie Cundy is looking for violinists to participate in her PhD reseach

CALLING ALL PROFESSIONAL VIOLINISTS

I am a doctoral student at the University of Surrey, generously funded by the Techne consortium. As a part of my research, I am exploring a potential connection between engagement with multi-modal learning techniques in violin pedagogy and later anxiety levels.

My definition of multi-modality includes improvisation, group learning, aural learning, imitation and historical and theoretical knowledge. So, for example, do those who regularly improvise during the course of their musical education experience lower levels of music performance anxiety? Would a more frequent and in depth engagement with theory mean a deeper understanding of the music violinists are playing and ultimately lower anxiety levels? Perhaps classical pedagogy would benefit from employing methods from other genres - eg Jazz. Whilst my research is currently focused upon violinists, hopefully the findings can be more widely applied and benefit future generations of musicians.

I have devised an anonymous survey which questions your engagement with these modes prior to the age of 18 and uses a standard music performance anxiety scale to measure current anxiety levels when performing.

I would be hugely grateful if any professional violinists could fill it in for me using the link below and forward to any friends and family in these three categories:

• Professional violinists
• Violinists about to start a conservatoire in september
• Violinists who graduated from a conservatoire in 2020/2021

On