The effect of music on heart activity: Correlation analyses of physiological strain and emotional involvement of two musicians during performance, listening, and rest

Under public concert conditions, the heart rate of a musical performer increases significantly when compared with that in a rehearsal situation. Previous studies have examined this effect, attributing a higher heart rate in performances to the effects of mental stress and performance anxiety. However, the actual physical work load had to be neglected in these studies, because it appears to be impossible to quantify physiological involvement while playing music. The present study investigates the basic physiological and psychological processes that take place during a performance by investigating the heart activity of performers during performance, rest and listening phases, and correlating the acquired data to synchronous acoustic recordings. The study also shows that the occurrence of special cardiac events such as VES and SVES generally correlate with musically demanding moments.

Martin Morgenstern received his Master's degree in Advanced Musical Studies with Geoffrey Chew at the Royal Holloway College, University of London, UK, and went on to do a Ph.D. at the Institute of Music, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, with Wolfgang Auhagen. He works as a science editor at Dresden University of Technology.