How important do you think the mental aspect is in playing an instrument, a la sports psychology, and what tips do you have? Do you think teachers should also be like personal coaches and give students confidence boosting tips etc., if they don't already? After all, if you can't focus properly and you underestimate your abilites you're predestined to fail.
Speaking off the top of my head...
First thing that wants to come out of my mouth is "playing an instrument is not a sport". It is an art. Of course, there is art in sport and the best sportsmen are artists. But the general emphasis in sports is achievement; the emphasis in music is in the process--the creation; at least that's how I see it most of the time.
I think teachers can best boost confidence by encouraging their students to experience and face their fear(s). When we get up to play in front of people, we may be full of fear--that fear is ourselves--and it is only by learning to accept that that we can make progress in gaining confidence. If you stay with the fear, your performance may not be perfect, but it will be genuine. Over time, it will gain.
Then there is the issue of encouragement. Everyone needs encouragement--it is part of being human. We can only go so long without some reassurance that we are on the right track.
In the end, making music is a profound self-journey and we need a guide and mentor (male or female) as someone who has travelled the road ahead of us and can point out the pitfalls, illumine the truth and gently give us the confidence to face ourselves.
I remember the week leading up to my first performance in public (I was already an adult, not having lessons as a child) I was following the advice of my Alexander teacher and trying to stay soley in the present, not in the past and not in the future. One morning that week, while I was making coffee, some movement I made as I was turning around was suddenly pregnant with the jist of my fears and my eyes welled up with tears. What was that great fear that had suddenly become so clear? My great fear was that if I made a mistake during the performance, the people in the audience would think I wasn't a musician. It was a big relief and confidence builder to realize that I could make a mistake and still be considered a musician. It is this sort of insightful knowledge that I think a teacher should try to encourage. I am very fortunate, I think, to have teachers (piano teacher and Alexander teacher) that encourage me to experience my fright.
