Patricia Blanco Piñeiro

Sin cuerpo no hay voz. Este es un axioma indiscutible en la musica vocal, puesto que para lograr una emision de calidad se necesita controlar el cuerpo, la musculatura y los organos articulatorios de todos los mecanismos implicados en la fonacion. En tres entregas, Opera actual ofrece las claves de la importancia de la correcta postura corporal en el canto.

The first aim of this study was to analyse performance self-efficacy as a predictor of music performance anxiety (MPA), and performance boost and self-rated performance as their outcomes in a sample of students and professionals (teachers and performers). This work also tries to ascertain the similarities and differences between genders and professional status by means of bivariate correlations, MANOVA, and structural equation model (SEM) analyses. A sample of 270 Spanish musicians participated in the study. With regard to the similarities, MPA was negatively predicted by self-efficacy and was a negative predictor of boost; the total effect of MPA on performance was negative and significant. Self-efficacy was a positive predictor of boost and performance. On the contrary, the predictive power of boost over performance was not significant. MPA mediated the effects of self-efficacy on boost; analogously, self-efficacy and boost mediated the influence of efficacy on performance. All of...

It is known that bad posture increases the risk that a musician may suffer from musculoskeletal disorders. This study compared posture quality required by different instruments or families of instruments. Using an ad hoc postural observation instrument embracing 11 postural variables, four experts evaluated the postures of 100 students attending a Spanish higher conservatory of music. The agreement of the experts' evaluations was statistically confirmed by the Cohen κ value between .855 and 1.000 and a Kendall value between 0.709 and 1.000 (p < 0.001 in all cases). Moreover, a χ(2) tests revealed significant association between instrument families and seated posture with respect to pelvic attitude, dorsal curvature, and head alignment in both sagittal and frontal planes. This analysis also showed an association between instrument families and standing posture with respect to the frontal plane of the axis of gravity, pelvic attitude, head alignment in the frontal plane, the sa...