Detriments to performance under pressure are common in many performance settings, from public speaking to skilled sports or music performances. In the last few decades, sports scientists have suggested that the quality and accuracy of movements can depend on what the performer attends to while executing the action, with an external focus of attention directed at the effects of the movement on the environment resulting in better performance than an internal focus, where attention is directed at the performer’s own body movements. Here we investigated the effects of attention focus instruction on the accuracy of piano performance. Amateur pianists were asked to practice a set piano piece for 7 days and then perform it to the experimenter under different performance instructions (no instruction, internal focus, external focus). An external focus of attention resulted in more accurate performance compared to an internal focus instruction, as evaluated by the difference in the number of note pitch errors and note corrections between the two conditions. Importantly, the advantage of an external over internal focus did not depend on pianistic expertise in our sample. Our research supports the idea that an external attention focus can improve music performance and should be considered in music teaching practice.

在许多表演环境中，从公开演讲到熟练的运动或音乐表演，压力下的表演都会受到损害。在过去的几十年中，体育科学家提出，动作的质量和准确性可能取决于表演者在执行动作时所关注的内容，外部注意力集中在动作对环境的影响上，从而产生更好的表现而不是内部焦点，注意力集中在表演者自己的身体动作上。在这里，我们研究了注意力集中指导对钢琴演奏准确性的影响。要求业余钢琴家练习一首钢琴曲7天，然后在不同的演奏指导下（无指导、内焦、外焦）向实验者演奏。与内部关注指令相比，外部关注焦点导致更准确的表现，这可以通过两种条件之间的音符音高错误和音符校正数量的差异来评估。重要的是，外部关注优于内部关注的优势并不取决于我们样本中的钢琴专业知识。我们的研究支持这样一种观点，即外部关注焦点可以提高音乐表现，应该在音乐教学实践中加以考虑。