The effect of pilates exercises on the students instrument performance, instrument motivation and instrument performance concern in violin training

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of pilates exercises in violin education on the performance, motivation and performance anxiety levels of students towards their individual instruments during the instrument playing process. The mixed method research design was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 16 violin students studying at the Music Teaching department of the Faculty of Education of Harran University. The "Individual Instrument Training Lesson Motivation Scale" developed by Çoban and Çalışkan (2019), the "String Instrument Performance Anxiety Scale" developed by Nalbantoğlu (2007) and the "Individual Instrument Training Performance Scale" developed by Dalkıran (2008) were used for the measurements at the quantitative stage of the study, and the interview method was also used in the qualitative part of the research. The data obtained from the research were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon signed rank test and Spearman rank differences correlation analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that there was a significant difference in comparing the instrument performance pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group, and there was no significant difference in comparing instrument motivation and performance anxiety pre-test and post-test scores. it was found that there was no significant difference in the comparison of instrument performance, motivation and performance anxiety pre-test and post-test scores of the control group. Between the motivation and instrument performance of the experimental group was found a moderate, positive, but not significant relationship, a moderate, negative, non-significant relationship between performance anxiety and instrument performances, a moderate, negative, non-significant relationship was found between performance anxiety and motivations. Between motivation and instrument performance of the control group were found deceleration level, positive, non-significant relationship, between performance anxiety and instrument performances a deceleration level, positive, non-significant relationship , between performance anxiety and motivations and a deceleration level, negative, non-significant relationship. In interviews conducted after the study, it was found that pilates in general positively affected violin performance because it reduced physical pain, motivated students to exercise together, and this motivated their desire to play the violin; however, there was a decrease in performance anxiety, pilates exercises were beneficial, and they expressed the opinion that the frequency of working hours increased. In addition, it has been the most emphasized recommendation that pilates lessons should be included in the music programs of universities.