ABSTRACT
There is a growing interest in psychological skills training, commonplace in sport and largely researched in sport psychology, to help musicians prepare for performance. Psychological skills training programmes comprise a variety of techniques, one of which is the use of pre-performance routines. In an exploratory research project, six piano teachers and their recreational pupils used a psychological skills training approach in regular piano lessons. Teaching and learning pre-performance routines was an effective strategy. Teachers found that routines were easy to teach and to accommodate in lessons. Benefits for pupils showed individual and developmental differences. Routines helped to improve confidence, concentration and/or control for the performance. These research findings demonstrate that performance strategies can and should be taught as separate skills to teaching music.
