Replication of elite music performance enhancement following alpha/theta neurofeedback and application to novice performance and improvisation with SMR benefits

•Advanced and novice performance examined in conservatoire instrumentalists.•A/T and SMR neurofeedback were compared with prepared and improvised pieces.•A/T enhanced creativity/musicality, technique and communication.•SMR improved technique and communication only in novice performance.•Neurofeedback learning/performance outcome correlations support causation.

Alpha/theta (A/T) and sensory-motor rhythm (SMR) neurofeedback were compared in university instrumentalists who were novice singers with regard to prepared and improvised instrumental and vocal performance in three music domains: creativity/musicality, technique and communication/presentation. Only A/T training enhanced advanced playing seen in all three domains by expert assessors and validated by correlations with learning indices, strongest with Creativity/Musicality as shown by Egner and Gruzelier (2003). Here A/T gains extended to novice performance – prepared vocal, improvised vocal and instrumental – and were recognised by a lay audience who judged the prepared folk songs. SMR learning correlated positively with Technical Competence and Communication in novice performance, in keeping with SMR neurofeedback's known impact on lower-order processes such as attention, working memory and psychomotor skills. The importance of validation through learning indices was emphasised in the interpretation of neurofeedback outcome.