Abstract
This is a qualitative study in which detailed, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six male and female high-level singers. In comparison to Nordin and Cumming’s work on professional dancers, some similarities and some unique differences emerged from the results. The Four Ws framework was employed, which involves Where, What, Why, and When singers image. Like in Nordin and Cumming’s study, How was a dimension that emerged inductively from the results. Singers mainly used imagery for improving vocal technique, performance anxiety, and character development.
Relationship between sports and music
A surgeon, a musician, and an athlete all come from different disciplines. While training from one discipline to the other varies greatly, they have one key component in common: performance, and more specifically, high-stakes performance. “Their professional identities and activities are linked inextricably to their performance. In the public eye, their actions and occupations—they themselves—are the thrilling and enthralling stuff of audiences, spectators, commentators, critics, media headlines, and lead stories” (Hays, 2002, p. 299).
According to Hays (2002), sport psychology is a relatively new topic of study with the body of work being done in the past 30 to 40 years. However, its application to other disciplines is even newer. “If sport psychology can be said to be in its adolescence, performance enhancement and the prevention and treatment of performance concerns in other performance areas are still in their infancy” (Hays, 2002, p. 299; Clark, 1989; Harmon, 1991; Hays, 1999; Sataloff, Brandfonbrener, & Lederman, 1991).
Imagery defined
Imagery is an experience that mimics a real experience (White & Hardy, 1998, p. 389). It is different from dreaming in that we are awake and consciously aware of creating images. Researchers have found plenty of evidence to support imagery’s utility in sport and exercise. Fenker and Lambiotte (1987) developed and implemented a performance-enhancing program that used imagery-training techniques for a college football team. Imagery and trance states (where the athlete deeply relaxes and is unencumbered by external stimuli or internal dialogue; Fenker, 1986) were implemented. The program resulted in the team achieving its best record in 20 years. Similar results were found when White and Hardy (1998) concluded that high-level canoeists and gymnasts can use imagery to enhance self-confidence in training and competition. This was achieved through restructuring negative thoughts into positive thoughts, thereby reducing anxiety. Evans, Jones, and Mullen (2004) conducted a study on an elite male rugby union football player and it was found that post-imagery intervention, the participant reported greater levels of confidence, more control over anxiety, and more structure to his imagery use. Finally, an imagery intervention conducted by Mellalieu, Hanton, and Thomas (2009) for male rugby players resulted in a more positive interpretation of cognitive anxiety and increased self-confidence. This improved their overall performance record, which showed that imagery is an effective performance-enhancing tool.
Imagery is often viewed as “the cornerstone of sport psychology” (Cornelius, Silva, & Stevens, 2002, p. 206), as it provides a targeted mental training approach to enhancing performance. Many athletes have reported using imagery to enhance their sport performance (Hall, Munroe-Chandler, Fishburne, & Hall, 2009), including but not limited to Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Mark McGuire. Furthermore, over 200 published studies have examined the relationship between mental imagery and sport performance (Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999). Given that singing is a highly cognitive task, it is equally valuable for singers to implement imagery into their training. Speaking to this, performance specialists Hays and Brown (2004) found distinct similarities between sport psychology and the performing arts when interviewing both a golfer and accomplished musician.
While the basis for exploring imagery use in the performing arts is evident, little research has been conducted to investigate imagery’s utility in singers or other musicians. As discovered by Gregg, Clark, and Hall (2008), musicians, both vocal and instrumental, reported using imagery to prevent distractions, recover from error, maintain mental toughness, demonstrate confidence, and overcome mental and physical fatigue. Given these results and the lack of further research in the field, the study of imagery for singers needs more attention.
Method
Four female and two male high-level singers participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 26 to 44 years (M = 33.33, SD = 6.31). They had been professionals on average for 7.61 years (SD = 4.63) and typically sang from 5 to 15 hr per week. All singers primarily sing classical repertoire and resided in Southwestern Ontario at the time of the interview. While the sample size (N = 6) may be small, those who identify as high-level singers are also small in number, lending relevance to this sample size.
Procedure
Pilot interview
To establish the suitability of the interview guide, a pilot interview was conducted. Based on this interview, a few changes were made to the wording of the questions and description of the study. The process increased the interviewer’s familiarity with the interview guide based on Nordin and Cumming’s (2005) guide for dancers.
Recruitment
A call for volunteers was made and once six participants had been interviewed, a point of saturation was reached (i.e., information gained from additional interviews largely repeated that of previous interviews), and no more interviewees were recruited (Biddle, Markland, Gilbourne, Chatzisarantis, & Sparkes, 2001).
Interview procedure
Before the interview, participants were given a letter of information and consent was obtained. White and Hardy’s definition of imagery was then read to the participants (see White & Hardy, 1998, p. 389).
Participants were asked if they understood the construct of imagery after it had been read to them. An interview guide ensured that the same questions were asked of all participants while still allowing the interviewer to use probes as necessary (Patton, 2002). Interviews were digitally recorded and lasted between 37 and 63 min.
Data analysis
The recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, which equaled 76 pages of text. These transcripts were read and then content analyzed by dividing them into codes in the program Atlas. Both deductive and inductive reasoning were used (Patton, 2002). Deductively, the interview guide was adapted from Nordin and Cumming’s (2005) study on dancers to account for singers’ imagery use. For example, when a participant responded “tone quality” for the function of their image, this was coded into the dimension “execution images” because tone quality is a technical skill. In contrast, the dimension of “teaching” was not in the interview guide, but participants mentioned it to distinguish between images for their personal singing and images for teaching their private students. Some images were categorized into multiple codes. For example, a singer might describe the content of an image as becoming the character backstage 10 paces prior to entering. This would be coded for character/role development as well as enhancing movement quality. Due to the overlapping nature of these results, the categories are not mutually exclusive, but they interact with one another. Various methods were employed to ensure the validity of the results. One of the final questions inquired whether the participant felt influenced by the interviewer. All participants answered “no.” Deliberations were made over the data analysis between the authors and the second author read all the transcripts and coded them into Atlas. Discrepancies were then analyzed and accounted for. Finally, quotations are included to lend credence to the categories that emerged from the interview.
Since the interview guide was modeled on Nordin and Cumming’s (2005) guide for dancers, the results may have differed had other questions and probes been included. For example, the dimension of “teaching” was not included in the guide but arose inductively from the results. If participants had specifically been asked about teaching and furthermore, how imagery is distinguished from personal singing use to teaching use, different results may have emerged.
Results
The interview guide was based on the Four Ws framework as developed by Munroe, Giacobbi, Hall, and Weinberg (2000). In comparison to Nordin and Cumming (2005), the present study also found that the dimension How emerged from the results in addition to the Four Ws. Figure 1 illustrates the coded results.
Hierarchical tree depicting Where, When, What, Why and How singers image, adapted from Nordin and Cumming (2005, p. 400).
Where
Four groups make up the dimension of Where: anywhere, in other locations, in singing settings, and at home. Participants primarily used imagery in the practice room, during performance, and at home. All participants mentioned backstage prior to and during a performance as a commonplace to image. Locations of imagery can differ and Participant 1 attested to this: I image in practice, in performance, in lessons, coaching sessions, and then throughout the day and other varying forms towards my studies. I went to a really incredible Messiah on the weekend and I felt inspired by the singing that I heard there and for sure I’m imagining those singers and what they did, trying to take that inspiration into what I’m doing now.
Here, deliberate use of imagery contrasts with its spontaneous arrival during Handel’s Messiah, therefore, the purposefulness of imagery can vary depending on location.
When
Eight categories make up the dimension of When: individual practice, specific movement, performance, teaching, rehearsal/group, specific instances, certain times of day, and anytime. Participant four stated, I find myself using imagery more often than not in a practice room when I’m by myself because I don’t have the luxury of being onstage in some sort of multi-modal or multi-sensory environment. Um. To work with. So more often than not, I’m in a practice room or by myself.
As a means of mimicking the stage environment and other characters with whom to interact, this participant uses imagery for individual practice in the practice room. In response to when images occur, a participant commented, “A better question would be when do they always happen? They always happen when I’m teaching. They always, always, always. I’m always searching for the next thing to explain.” This participant uses imagery in their private teaching as a way of explaining different aspects of vocal technique. One of the difficulties in being a singer and a voice teacher is that they cannot see their instrument. They need to rely heavily on sensation and imagery in order to coordinate the muscles involved in singing. Finch (2011) advocates for using imagery to enhance coaching and this could easily be applied to teachers of singing.
What
The dimension for What was divided into sub-categories: imagery types and imagery characteristics. Imagery types represent the function of the image and Imagery characteristics represent the description of the image.
Imagery types
The six imagery types included execution images, metaphorical images, context images, body-related images, and character/role images.
Execution
Execution images refer to images of skills. Similar to the cognitive-specific function of imagery from Paivio’s (1985) framework, images that fall under this category can relate to skills, sequences, breaks in a performance like a stage entrance or exit, positioning, and timing of a singer in relation to others and the music. Participant 5 exemplifies this when mentioning imagery to aid his coloratura singing (one syllable sung over many notes): I have to think of the coloratura either in sections and I have to think of them in squares, or chunks, or blocks, or blobs so I can find freedom in making them happen ’cause otherwise I end up singing too heavy. Whether it’s, I think if I got a group of 4, group of 4, I choose to bounce a ball like a karaoke machine through them sometimes.
Because this participant has difficulty with agility in the voice, they use imagery to group the runs into smaller, more manageable sections. Included in this category are also images of planning and strategy similar to Paivio’s cognitive-general function of imagery. Participant 6 stated the following: “I imagine doing an opera role or a recital kind of like a marathon. It’s how you’re gonna pace it. So I’ll plan that out before.” This participant uses imagery to map out the role in an opera they are performing. Opera roles vary in size and difficulty. Depending on these factors, a singer could be onstage for most of the opera or barely at all. If the former, imagery would be effective in maintaining enough energy and stamina to last the entire opera. If the latter, imagery would be an effective training tool for renewing that energy so as not to create a slump during performance. Lack of energy in singing can lead to intonation issues (singing out of tune), lack of focus, and other negative occurrences. As a further dimension of this category, various goals emerged which include, outcome, performance, or subjective goals. The following is a quotation from Participant 2 on their subjective goals: I think for me, and this might fit in with goals but, imagery is really important because being a successful singer is only medium important to me. But being a happy singer is very important. And so, hopefully I wouldn’t have to make this choice but I would rather be happy in what I’m doing in my performances than be good at them. And I think it’s more important to speak to people with the honesty of your performance than it is to amaze them with how amazing you are. So I use imagery a lot for that.
Subjective goals like the one mentioned above can help a singer keep a more positive perspective. Oftentimes singers are disheartened by the nature of the career—financial and occupational instability, disrespect from other fields, and personal doubts. But using imagery to stay positive can make a difference in a singer’s outlook on singing and life in general.
Metaphorical
Metaphorical images can involve images of color, objects not physically present, actions the performer is not physically capable of doing, the environment, and themes. Three singers mentioned using images of color. “I will imagine that if I have strophic things to sing, the verses in different colour to sort of make them different for me.” Images of objects not physically present were used by three singers: “feel like you’re wearing a belt of noses.” “For a relaxed breath, imagine a beautiful flower.” Images of actions that the performer cannot physically do were mentioned by three singers: “pretend you have like giant wings on,” “I’ve used things like feeling like you’re rooted like a tree. And your “branches are swaying up here” to have this agility but also being grounded, “If I am feeling a lot of tension build, just the idea of a bucket of water falling on my head sometimes can help.” Images of metaphorical environments were mentioned by one singer but not asked directly in the interview guide. One participant mentioned that metaphorical images were not always helpful because they preferred to know the actual anatomy used during singing rather than incorporating “a belt of noses” for breath support.
Context
Context images comprised the performing environment, other singers, and imagining people. Singers are often encouraged to create biographies of the character that they portray during performance. This allows for a more detailed picture of the character and informs their portrayal on stage. Five of the singers mentioned images of context including images of the environment for their character, the storyline of the piece, and their role in it, which included a background of the character.
Body-related
Body-related images involve images of feeling, appearance, anatomy, and healing. Images of feeling, whether physical or emotional were mentioned by all participants. However, images of sensations were more prevalent in the participants’ responses, “Or a physical sensation of those physical feelings of when someone dies. Those physical sensations, like for me I’ve experienced a tightness in my chest or this horrible, indescribable feeling in the pit of my stomach.” “If you’re supposed to be happy, imagine someone’s giving you a puppy.” These two quotations represent images of physical and emotional sensations, respectively. Images of appearance and healing were far more prevalent in dancers than singers. Images of appearance were largely in accordance with images of a character or role. Participants were not concerned with their personal appearance on stage because they were assuming a character. Two participants mentioned images of healing, “I imagine my body’s overproduction of mucous is a really wonderful, great thing.” “I’ll imagine myself better by tomorrow and then it will be so.”
Character/role
Character/role images refer to images of emotions or behaviors of a character. All participants used imagery for character and role development and it is one of the most prevalent categories of the interview. Singers use imagery to create a movie or story of their character. “having this movie that’s playing that will help you stay engaged during your performance.” Participant 3 uses imagery for Libby Larsen’s song cycle Try me, Good King—The Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII: If you’re singing those, like who are they? Getting to know their stories and really imagining, you’re going to sing these five women but in a row and you’re the same person. And how can you embody them and make them all different and interesting?
This detailed background information helps to color the portrayal of the character adding a further layer to the performance and making it more realistic for the audience.
Imagery characteristics
Ability
Four categories emerged for Ability: accuracy, difficulty, vividness, and manipulation ability. Participants reported varying levels of accuracy and vividness in their images: “they’re vivid enough for me.” All participants reported being mostly able to manipulate their images at will, “I think I can pretty well. Maybe when you’re a younger singer, you’re not as effective at that but I think it’s like any other tool. You get better at it the more you use it.” Whether they can actually image as well as they perceive requires further study. In times of stress, imagery can be difficult to incorporate into performance. Hindrances like negative self-talk can get in the way. Participant 5 had an effective solution for this problem: This sort of self-negative talk stuff. I have a nasty name I call this person, this little person inside my head, this little voice. I acknowledge that I am going to have to deal with this thing. What I am going to have to say to myself about it. But it’s often unsuccessful as I personify this thing and I say, “go sit over there. You will have your turn later.” But right now I have to focus on this.
This participant was able to set aside their negative self-talk and continue with the performance. Sometimes, other singers are not so lucky. Using imagery to restructure negative self-talk requires further study.
Direction
Direction refers to interpretation of anxiety being facilitative or debilitative. All singers reported imagery being facilitative. “I am very conscious of using imagery in a way that is helpful and what kinds of things in imagery are negative for me and trying to avoid them.” Four singers reported imagery being debilitative at times, especially when negative self-talk takes over.
I’m really anxious about doing badly on this performance but what does it look like to have a good performance? Because avoiding the bad isn’t good enough—you need to know what you’re trying to achieve. And sometimes I find that more difficult. If I’m feeling anxious, my brain wants to like gloss over it and go into a panicked state. But yeah, I started using imagery to help with the anxiety and even just to imagine what does it look to give a good performance in this setting.
Interestingly, this singer did not deliberately use imagery to merely counteract anxiety or “avoiding the bad” but actively sought to embrace the good.
Amount
Amount refers to how much participants image. All singers reported using imagery during lessons, rehearsals, individual practice time, and performances. It is difficult to draw an exact number because singers are not always consciously aware of creating an image. Amount of imagery varies between individuals, imagery types, seasons, pieces, and moods. “I think in rehearsal periods, there’s probably a lot more technical imagery. And in performance, it’s a lot more character-based and based on creating a physical, mental, emotional state that is conducive to a good performance.” The question of whether singers should image more than they do arose from the results. “I feel like it’s facilitative in that I could probably be doing a lot more.”
Deliberation
Deliberation refers to whether the content of images are purposeful or spontaneous. A singer commented, “And then, also this kind of like nightly before I fall asleep time to review the repertoire, usually I use a lot of imagery then.”
Duration
Duration refers to the length of time the image takes to emerge, speed of the image, and length of usefulness. All participants reported images occurring in real-time. A participant commented, At that point, I think more along the lines of goal-setting and telling myself you know there are days when I just do not want to practice. And I think to myself, look at the goals you’re trying to set for yourself. You want to achieve this academically, you want to hopefully get employed in these positions that you aspire to be in.
This quotation represents imagery’s usefulness as a way of motivating the participant to practice.
Senses
This dimension involves auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, visual, and kinesthetic senses. Visual and kinesthetic were more prevalent for singers. Smell and taste were least prevalent but sometimes arose for character/role development. Two participants brought up the idea of creating a movie and then watching it: Yeah, I guess it’s related to my own experience. And I guess I do that sometimes through the “Watch your movie” thing. Where you actually, relive a memory in your mind without telling someone else about it. But it comes across on your face because you’re actually kind of experiencing the whole thing again.
Why
Four categories emerged for why the participants use imagery: motivational reasons, cognitive reasons, artistic reasons, healing reasons, and no reason/triggered imagery.
Cognitive reasons
Learning and improving
Learning and improving encompasses many aspects of singing. The following categories arose inductively from the results: understand and clarify, change habits, mental processing, physical practice, evaluate singing, body awareness. “It’s usually in the process of learning it, trying to get sort of broader mapping of character or something before the really detailed things come into play when you’re really starting to colour specific words.” This participant describes using imagery in the initial process of learning music. When a singer is faced with learning a full musical score, it can often seem daunting at first. Imagery is a useful tool to divide the process into manageable steps and like this participant said, it starts with the text.
Memorizing
Imagery plays a significant role in aiding memorization. All participants reported using imagery for memory work. Similar to the “watch your movie” idea described above, singers also create stories. “I make whole stories through pieces and almost imagine a character.” “It’s like learning a story, having a sequence of images that will progress me through something is actually probably the biggest tool I have when it comes to memory.” “Especially when first memorizing, I’m physically seeing that picture of the paper in my head.”
Planning
Planning involves adapting, problem solving, and goal-setting. Imagery can be used strategically to create plans for when performances go awry.
And as a result, my improvised gestures would lead me to neglect what I was doing vocally. And so, I told myself, I need to figure out sort of a plan of action. Where I need to move, how I need to move. And even just planning out the way in which I move my body in conjunction with the way I was breathing for certain notes.
This participant used imagery during performance to adapt to the situation of the piece.
Motivational reasons
Motivational drive
Gammage, Hardy, and Hall (2001) found that athletes use self-talk for motivational drive. All six participants mentioned using imagery for motivational drive. “I’ve sung this a bunch of times, I’ve worked really hard, and this note that I’m really worried about, that I’m working really hard on just trust that that will be there even when I’m nervous. And sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe. But you can breathe, it will be ok. And relying on past experience, like you felt this way before and it’s been before. You can feel this way again and it will be ok.”
Changing thoughts and feelings
All participants used imagery to change thoughts and feelings. Typically, these images were associated with mastery, arousal, and affect. “I try to channel nerves as excitement.” “I have a lot of nervous energy so all of those being taller, being regal, being attached to the ground helps to keep me from being fidgety.” They used those past experiences and created images of future mastery, “I guess before. It’s like imagining what the performance will be. If you visualize it going that way, it will happen that way.” This participant is creating a positive self-fulfilling prophecy. By expecting excellence, excellence will occur. These quotations all have cognitive restructuring in common.
Artistic reasons
Several categories emerged for singers’ artistic reasons for using imagery: staging and inspiration, enhancing movement quality, communicating with the audience, healing, and no reason/triggered imagery. “Whether you want to look sort of imposing or grand or formal in some sort of way, looking youthful, diminutive.” This participant uses imagery to find things they have yet to find. A participant commented, “Imagining ok, I need to move stage left, how would that look like helps me to make the kind of entrance that I want because the body language speaks first.” Communicating with the audience was the most prevalent artistic reason for using imagery in singers because it is inextricably linked with character and role development.
No reason/triggered images were divided into actions and sensations and refer to images that can prompt another image for a specific function. Actions represent self-talk, speaking and watching others, marking, breathing, and writing down key features. For example, if one has to sing a particularly gut-wrenching aria, they might use an image of the death of a relative as a quick prompt to get to that place. They would not think of the entire scenario for fear of causing problems onstage. But a quick image to activate something like that for a specific purpose would be useful. Sensations represent smells, tastes, sounds, visual stimuli, and anxiety. When asked about their imagery in relation to sense of touch, I wouldn’t just say touch but also sensation. Touch for sure is a more used one. The feeling of sinking into something or the feeling of running your hand across something. But not as much as like, imagining sound or that kind of thing.
For auditory, I think that’s very similar to the amount of imagining sound. Um, I am certainly imagining or aware of really minute tiny things—where you feel vibrations in your mouth. Sometimes difficult to distinguish between that and what you’re imagining because they’re so interrelated and also what you hear is actually kinesthetic because you’re hearing the sound resonating through your bone structure rather than just through the air. So those are deeply related.
How
As with Nordin and Cumming’s (2005) study, three categories were used to code the data for the dimension How: obtaining images, interpreting images, and creating layers of images. In the dance model of this study, all three of these categories were prominent whereas creating layers of images was found to be more important for singers. Obtaining images include snapshots of external stimuli, like photos. They can also involve memories so the singer can remember a situation or a relationship and imagine that feeling so they can recreate it for stage. This is important for characterization and audience communication, and it naturally interacts with character/role images. Participant 4 describes it well with the following quotation: This would have been at the end of my first major opera performance during the second year of my masters. And it was the first time I had actually had the opportunity to work with this particular conductor. From what I knew in previous years, he could be your worst enemy or your best friend provided you knew your music. Um, and so the one thing I didn’t want was to get on his bad side. And I remember the both performances he would always come up to me and just give me this big hug. And I just knew at that point, he obviously appreciated the amount of work I put into this. And that so I always think back to that. People know the amount of work that you put into learning your music and preparing a role. So the thing you need to do is trust in yourself at that point.
Interpreting images involve how an image is converted into movements and feelings or rather, how a singer can physicalize an image. All singers reported using this aspect of imagery, particularly for stage entrances and exits.
Creating layers of images was of particular interest and it can involve first thinking of a skill and then adding an emotion or character on top of that. This can be as simple as writing the word “happy” over a particularly joyful section of coloratura (one vowel sung over many notes). Or it can be more complex like this participant describes, “these colors, this image, this other image, more like a really abstract painting that you’re looking at.”
Relationship between what and why
The relationship between what and why or the content and reason for the image was an interesting dimension that arose from the results and they varied greatly among participants. For example, a participant mentioned using metaphorical images for memorization purposes, “I’ll try and use images of colours, forest, a house, whatever the actual images are in the music, sometimes I’ll use those as memorization points.” Contrastingly, another participant used character/role images for memorization purposes, “I make whole stories through pieces and almost imagine a character.” Singers use different reasons for the same images, which adds richness to the data collected. These variances in images are useful tools especially for teachers, so that they have a variety of images to help their voice students.
Discussion
Where, When, What, Why, and How six high-level singers image has been explored. Similarities were found between the current study, its dance model, and the sport and exercise literature. For example, singers use imagery during training and performance and for cognitive and motivational reasons just like dancers and athletes do. While metaphorical imagery is not commonplace among the sport and exercise world, it was highly prevalent in dancers. All dancers gave examples of metaphorical images (Nordin & Cumming, 2005). Singers certainly used metaphorical images but to a lesser degree than character/role images. This could have to do with the fact that singers have text as another vehicle of communicating with the audience. Experiences of mastery arose inductively from the results. All participants mentioned knowing what a good performance felt like and being able to use that as a goal for their performance. Contrastingly, like some of the dancers, some of the singers found goal-setting to be frustrating at times. Long-term goals were especially limiting because of the instability of a career in the performing arts. Only two dancers used imagery for long-term career goals while seven gave examples of short-term goals for upcoming performances. Generally, singers and dancers reported short-term goals to be more effective than long-term ones.
Imagery prior to a performance is another interesting topic that arose from the results. All singers found imagery prior to a performance to be useful but several dancers in Nordin and Cumming’s (2005) study reported that it interfered with automaticity of their movements. Because singers have text to deliver, they may find this last-minute, pre-stage rehearsal helpful for their next entrance.
Irrelevant images refer to images that are not relevant to singing. These images were mentioned by four dancers but were not said outright by any of the singers. It was eliminated as a category in the results but is still worth mentioning. This could be because singers need to deliver text and if irrelevant images enter the mind, one might lose a place in the music. It could also be that singers are so committed to character and role images that irrelevant images have no cause to enter during performance.
There was little mention of imagery as a way of healing injuries in singers. In contrast, Nordin and Cumming (2005) found that six dancers experienced images of injuries and/or themselves healing. This could be because dancing is more of a physically dominant task while singing is more of a cognitively dominant task.
The aspect of time in imagery is interesting because all participants mentioned that images occur in real-time. This would suggest that participants are imagining/producing the notes in real time. How this relates to singers and how it can improve practical skills like sight-singing is a future direction of this study.
Due to the multi-faceted nature of imagery and the responses, the categories of images and reasons for their use overlap and interact with one another. While an entire study could be completed on singers’ use of execution images, it is neither realistic nor feasible to do so because of the multi-dimensional nature of imagery in general.
Several limitations bear mentioning and the first has to do with the definition of imagery. Athletes’ knowledge of imagery as a mental training tool is vast whereas the singers interviewed seemed to misunderstand the meaning of the word imagery from a sport psychology perspective. Even though the definition was read to them and they were asked if they understood and responded yes, one participant stated, Then I guess I didn’t understand your imagery explanation at all. I thought it was more like “feel like you’re a tree.” Those kinds of things that other teachers say. I didn’t realize that you were basing it on physical . . .
In future studies, a sport psychology consultant-led tutorial or workshop might clarify the concept of imagery for participants. Several participants commented that either sending the questions before or having a follow-up interview would have helped because one participant commented, “I just wish I could give you better responses. I’m sure I do a lot of those things. I just never considered it.”
The sample size for this pilot study (N = 6) was quite small. It would be valuable to widen the participant pool to have a greater breadth of data from which to draw. Furthermore, high-level singers (singers who have studied voice for 10 years or more) were used for the participant pool. It would be interesting to have participants who perform regularly in opera houses. Since conflicting performing schedules and executing such a large study would be difficult, an online survey would be a more feasible means of collecting data. Finally, Nordin and Cumming (2005) used member checking procedures (Miles & Huberman, 1990) by sending all participants a transcript of their interview prior to analysis stage. We feel that while this ensures clarity of responses, it may incite participants to change their initial responses, which could alter the results. A follow-up interview or sending the interview questions to the participants ahead of time might avoid this issue in the future. Finally, because of its multi-sensory nature, imagery can be a useful performance-enhancing tool for singers.
The more and more you hear a piece, and you not only pay attention to your vocal line and the accompaniment, the way the phrases move and things like that. You really see the piece as a multisensory experience beyond that point. It’s not just you the singer. It’s you the interpreter of this piece of music.
