Heart Rate Variability During Singing and Flute Playing

Abstract

The authors tested five professional singers’ and four flute players’ physiological performance arousal (4 male, 5 female) by means of Actiheart1 recordings. In addition, they used a 5-point Likert-type scale to assess the subjects’ nervousness. Every musician performed a relaxed and a strenuous piece with (concert) and without (rehearsal) an audience. A one-way analysis of variance in heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) showed a significant difference across the four different conditions (easy/rehear- sal, strenuous/rehearsal, easy/concert, and strenuous/concert) within subjects. There were no significant differences in heart rate reaction patterns between subjects. With regard to HRV, on the other hand, low frequency (LF) power and high frequency (HF) power reaction patterns in the four situations varied significantly between subjects. In addition, the authors found a significantly lower LF power during the concert in those who were nervous before the concert compared with those who were not nervous.

Keywords

autonomic nervous system, heart rate variability, music performance, performance anxiety, stress