The title of this book is ever so slightly misleading. To the pedantic reviewer, it suggests a description of the process whereby ‘fine musicians become great teachers’. In fact, this is a self-help book, a ‘how-to’ guide, for performers who want to become great teachers. It is also (potentially) a course textbook for those who train and support performers to become great teachers. Written by American authors for the American market, specifically ‘the performers who will teach yet haven't been offered any teacher training in their degree programs’ (p. xiii), the book is in four sections. The first three are headed The Performing Musician, The Art of Teaching and The Musician as a Teaching Professional. The fourth section consists of no fewer than ten appendices. Most of the appendices could be of interest to UK readers: how to use the book as the basis for a course proposal (Performance-Based Pedagogy); a two-semester syllabus including lecture topics, discussion points and assignments; empty grids to be completed by the reader (The Fully Prepared Music Student; Connecting Expressive Sound to Bow Technique) or for student assessment; Sample Course Objectives for classes or groups of students. The advice given in the remaining appendices would require some adaptation: Applying For (And Securing) a University Teaching Position and Suggestions for Effective Middle and High School Rehearsals; one is applicable only to American readers: Disability Law, Accommodations, and Resources.

It may seem counter-intuitive to begin a review with an overview of the appendices, but I want to emphasise the practical nature of this book. Watkins and Scott tackle the major obstacle faced by teachers of pedagogy at conservatoires by heading their Introduction When Your Calling in Life Is to Perform, Why Learn to Teach? Thus, rather than focusing from the outset on teaching, they start by encouraging the performing musician to reflect on and articulate what they already know implicitly, and to use this knowledge as the basis for a career that will, almost inevitably, include teaching.

Chapter 1 explores definitions of musicality and considers the extent to which it can be learned. It addresses the need for performers to understand the context and language of the music they are to play and discusses the parameters of expressive musical performance. Chapter 2 describes learning to listen, inner listening – including its effect on intonation – and ‘engaged’, attentive listening. Reference is made to deaf performers and musicians with hearing impairments, and to stimuli other than music, such as oratory. Having pointed out the universal elements of technique and reminded us that ‘all technique exists to serve the music’ (p. 41), Chapter 3 invites readers to relate the essential physical attributes of technique to their own instrument, and answer a series of questions on acoustics and the mechanics of sound production. It lists the attributes of movement and their effects on accuracy; discusses the cognitive processes underlying performance and mentions, briefly, musicians’ health and injury prevention. Chapter 4 focuses on practising, stressing the need for goals and strategies (‘practice processes’). Optimal practice is likely to be undertaken when performers are in a good physical and mental state, so as to make the best use of the time they have available. The final chapter in this first section of the book addresses performing itself. Like the rest of this section, all performers – whether or not considering a career as a teacher – could make use of the excellent guidance presented here. Advice on preparation for performance builds on the optimal (‘performance-oriented’) practice techniques already described. These include managing performance anxiety; playing or singing from memory; the need for realistic expectations; the use of affirmations to counter negative self-talk (‘mind games’); the physiological effects of anxiety; concentrating; focus; recovering from mistakes and determination. ‘Stage presence’ is deconstructed and its components are listed and described; following a discussion of the factors underlying and creating expressive performance the authors return to the topic of musicality, first introduced in Chapter 1, and how this might be shared by the performer with his or her students.

Part II focuses on teaching, rather than performing. Chapter 6 sets out 22 general teaching principles, from ‘Care about your students as individuals’ to ‘Demonstrate your integrity’, all illustrated with vignettes or bullet-point advice. Teachers in the UK have access to examination syllabi such as those of the ABRSM and Trinity-Guildhall to inform the sequential teaching of techniques and repertoire, bolstered by opportunities for pupils to take part in competitions organised in collaboration with the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech. For those who do not have these advantages, Chapter 7 considers sequencing considerations not only for beginners and the early years of study but also for extended study, students who have transferred from other teachers, remedial teaching and temporary teaching situations such as summer schools and master classes. A pragmatic approach is recommended, however: the final part of this chapter is devoted to ‘out-of-sequence sequencing’. Chapter 8 reminds teachers that their role is to make themselves dispensable, analysing why this is so hard to do, and suggesting that students need to be taught how to practise effectively, make musical decisions including repertoire choices independently, learn from opportunities outside lessons, adjust their own intonation, and develop professionalism. Chapter 9, Comprehensive Teaching, does not refer to teaching in comprehensive schools, as might be thought by the unwary UK reader, but rather the ability to integrate knowledge, skill and expression in the interests of musicianship. It discusses teaching strategies such as student-centred approaches to learning and linking technique to expression and knowledge; assessment and ‘big picture concepts’ such as the life of a performing musician. Chapter 10 encourages the reader to develop and articulate a personal teaching philosophy, drawing on his or her experience of implementing the approaches, strategies and general teaching principles discussed in previous chapters, which may inform future job applications.

Part III is devoted to practicalities. Chapter 11, Establishing a Teaching Studio, provides guidance on issues such as space, set-up, attracting students, establishing a support base, setting and collecting fees, parental involvement, group classes, performances and running a business. The paragraphs on teaching in public, private and music schools may be of limited relevance to UK readers, like those on the US tax laws (the Musicians’ Union publishes up-to-date, local advice). Chapter 12 focuses on the teaching of groups and ensembles, taking academic classes and sectionals, running repertoire classes, assessing and evaluating performances and finally working with adult learners and students with disabilities. This chapter would be particularly relevant to teachers in the UK working at music centres, for local music services or hubs, and at summer schools, supplementing Lucy Green's Music, Informal Learning and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy (Reference Green2009) and Peter Moser and George McKay's Community Music: A Handbook (Reference Moser and McKay2005). Chapter 13 addresses teaching relationships with different kinds of ‘difficult’ student and in different contexts (private/collegiate); professional ethics; fostering positive relationships with parents; and ends by asking the reader to reflect on his or her own experiences of learning, in order to recognise ‘the cyclical and reciprocal nature of teaching and learning’, the topic of the final chapter.

The book is beautifully presented, both as a resource for self-study, and, via ‘personal inventories’ in each chapter, such as ‘What are your personal requirements for effective practice?’ on p. 68, study of the self. It is also designed as a course textbook for groups of students, including exercises such as the grids to be completed throughout the book and in the Appendices, and boxes (inaccurately referred to as ‘sidebars’) headed Consider This, such as ‘Performers often explore how their physical gestures can affect their ability to express meaning in the music, but do you believe those expressive movements can be ‘heard’ on an audio recording when the visual aspect is removed?’ on p. 36. Short sections are interspersed with numbered paragraphs and bullet points. Each chapter ends with a list of Ideas for Further Exploration, and Recommended Reading: these vary from well-known, easy-to-read books, intended for musicians, such as Green and Gallwey's The Inner Game of Music (Reference Green and Gallwey1986) and/or music lovers, for example Levitin's This is your Brain on Music (Reference Levitin2006) to good, standard textbooks such as Thompson's Music, Thought and Feeling: Understanding the Psychology of Music (Reference Thompson2009), classic works on general education (Bruner's The Process of Education, Reference Bruner1960) and reports of original research, such as Ericsson, Krampe and Tesch-Römer's seminal and much-cited article ‘The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance’ (Reference Ericsson, Krampe and Tesch-Römer1993). Inexperienced readers might benefit from advice, however, as to the nature of each resource provided (e.g. standard textbook, best-seller, scholarly article) – an idea for future editions, perhaps. Not surprisingly, the same books and articles appear at the end of different chapters, but there is no single list of references: this could also be helpful for readers.

From the Stage to the Studio: How Fine Musicians become Great Teachers could be seen as building on earlier literature such as the Music Teaching Artist's Bible: Becoming a Virtuoso Educator (Reference Booth2005) by Eric Booth, who provides a warm endorsement for the book. In the UK the nearest equivalent would be the now sadly out-of-date Routes into Teaching Music by Rick Rogers, published in Reference Rogers2005 by the Department for Education and Science shortly after the launch of the Music Manifesto. It would be a pity if readers were to be deterred by Watkins and Scott's emphasis on the American teaching context, since they provide a great deal of very useful advice and guidance, based on sound educational and musical principles. Used in conjunction with local resources such as the UK publications and websites listed below, this is a book that can be recommended highly.