Instruction to players to set up musical whip round (8)
I believe the answer is:
staccato
'instruction to players' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'set up musical whip round' is the wordplay.
'set up' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, letters go up).
'musical' becomes 'Cats' (Andrew Lloyd Webber musical).
'whip' becomes 'cat' (cat o' nine tails, cat for short is a type of whip).
'round' becomes 'o' (o is a circular letter).
'cats' back-to-front is 'stac'.
'stac'+'cat'+'o'='STACCATO'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for staccato that I've seen before include "detached playing style" , "With sharply detached sounds (music)" , "Opposite of legato" , "Disconnected, like musical notes say" , "With each note sharply separated from the others" .)