I’ve already mentioned that my post on performance mindset drew some feedback on how musicians in my social media community struggle with perfectionism. What I didn’t expect (although it makes sense in hindsight) is that people also drew a connection with performance anxiety on social media. One commenter in particular admitted they don’t post their own music on social media because of the stress of being good enough for others.

This concern over sharing one’s music or performances on social media is something I hear from a lot of people I work with. I, too, have had to overcome a fear of showing up on social media in order to build my own musical community.

One idea in particular has helped me the most in overcoming my fear of social media, and I’d like to share it with you today.

My last video on performance mindset got some amazing feedback, probably more than anything else I've posted online. Multiple people told me their perfectionism and fear of performance ruined their ability to play music, even for fun.

I felt I wanted to response to some of these commenters, to give them an extra step in their path to reconnecting with their musical ability. So I sat down and recorded a few videos sharing some of the lessons I’d learned that helped me overcome my perfectionism, in case it could help them. Here’s one of those lessons in case it can help you, too.

Do you stress out when you think about preparing for a musical performance? If so, chances are that you’re worrying about being good enough to play for other people.

There’s a way around performance anxiety that works especially well for sensitive, heart-led people. Building a healthy music performance mindset can start with the small step of considering your own general intention when you practice. When you’re preparing for your performance, do you focus on showing off (for your audience) or showing up (for your music)?

People would be surprised how much time I spend as a piano teacher helping people drop back down into their bodies.

By this I mean putting a pause on their rational brains and help them seek out the emotions that their bodies are trying to surface during the learning experience.

Today’s post is for anyone who signed up for piano lessons or a keyboarding in college at the beginning of September and are now finding themselves at the end of September wondering what on earth they signed up for!

I studied Philosophy in university, and I love to dig into the deeper meanings and hidden assumptions in things we tend to take for granted. As September rolled around and I started to ramp up my marketing for the new school year, I started to notice that I’d taken for granted some approaches to piano lesson marketing that didn’t actually align with my personal values as a heart-centred piano teacher.

In my previous post, I encouraged beginner piano players to choose the kind of music they wanted to play before signing up for piano lessons. It seems to have struck a chord (no pun intended!) for some viewers, because I received some comments back about it. Here’s a response from a viewer that really drives home the importance of being purposeful in your music lessons.

I've been teaching for over 20 years and I can say from my experience that the #1 factor that determines whether or not someone is going to be successful in learning is not necessarily the quality of the teaching or the material, but is the motivation of the learner.

And I can also say that motivation lasts longer when it comes from a place deep inside rather than some external motivator, like keeping your teacher happy.

So how do you tap into your internal motivation?

By playing what you love, from the very beginning.

If you're learning piano because you would like to perform one day, here's the game plan I would use to help get you on your way.

If you’re a visual learner, you may prefer to watch the video above. If you prefer to read, here’s a summary of my game plan.