Artificial Intelligence Music Platform for Piano Majors Improves Learning and Reduces Anxiety: Randomized Study with...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly applied in music pedagogy, yet reproducible workflows that jointly evaluate knowledge acquisition and anxiety regulation remain limited. This protocol describes a randomized controlled workflow for implementing an AI-driven music education platform within routine studio-class teaching and assessing its effects in undergraduate piano majors. Participants are screened and randomly allocated to an AI-driven platform or traditional instruction for 2 weeks (twelve 30-min sessions). Outcomes include a structured music-theory/analysis test and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S; 20 items, 4-point scale; total 20-80). Heart-rate variability (HRV) is recorded during a 5-min seated rest and a 5-min standardized practice segment; primary indices include the root mean square of successive differences of normal-to-normal intervals (RMSSD; short-term vagal activity), the standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN; overall variability), and high-frequency (HF) power (parasympathetic-related spectral component). The protocol enables instructors and researchers to deploy the platform and follow a standardized sequence covering participant screening, randomization execution, platform setup/configuration, HRV sensor placement and recording, artifact handling and HRV computation, administration/scoring of all outcome measures, and final data export, file naming, and secure storage for statistical analysis. Analyses use independent-samples t-tests and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with baseline as a covariate. Representative results show higher adjusted post-test theory performance in the AI-driven arm (partial η² = 0.206) and lower post-intervention state anxiety (t(38) = -3.486, p = 0.001; Cohen's d ≈ 1.10) than controls, with HRV patterns providing physiological context and secondary cognitive-load outcomes indicating reduced extraneous load.