I think playing technique in the sense of hitting the keys or plucking the strings, posture, breathing, etc., was emphasized too much in music teaching when I was a child taking music lessons and it seems that things haven't changed much for the better. As an adult, I took a couple of guitar lessons from someone (after having been playing for about 15 years) and he only taught that sort of thing. It has it's place, but I think the way he went about it would have done more harm than good if I'd stuck with it. I'm pretty sure it was what he was taught where he studied guitar.

I call this teaching the "How" rather than the "What". The problem is, I think teachers emphasize the "How" so much that the students never get to the "What". This is one reason why I post here (and not some other places): People here realize that you don't have to make three loop-the-loops and imagine you're floating on a cloud before you pluck a string.