A lot of the aspiring songwriters I teach tell me they feel a barrier to their creativity, but don't know where it comes from. This is something I have also felt, and I'm happy to share how I finally made sense of it!

Here's a replay of my recent live stream where I talk about the process and strategies I use to write music from the heart.

You can tell a lot about a person’s musical goals and values by what they choose to keep at their piano. The way a person maintains their space, and the music or trinkets they keep around, can reveal their personality and influence their mindset when they play. I find it so interesting to see how each persons’ piano layout is different. Today, I thought it could be fun to give you a tour of my own piano setup.

If you’re familiar with my channel, you'll know that I try to encourage authenticity and personal motivation when showing up to your piano. I try to dismantle rigid expectations of strict routines and following other people's expectations, in favour of a personalized, heart-led approach to learning piano.

I created this post to let you know that this is a lesson that I'm continually learning myself.

If you've been avoiding your piano lately, you're much better off getting curious about the source of your barriers than feeling guilty about them.

Here's a video on the common barriers to piano practice and how you might work through them so you can get back to playing your piano from a place of joy and delight.

One of the most common rituals that beginner piano learners include in their practice is scales.

Playing scales can start as an exciting step toward playing piano independently! But all too often, and too soon, practicing scales can become stale.

Over my last two years of creating social media content on learning piano, I've learned a lot about the process and benefits of creativity.

Believe it or not, these lessons are also applicable to people who are interested in being creative at their pianos!

Have you ever had an idea to try something at your piano, but you were so intimidated by the idea that you ended up "bookmarking" it for later? Maybe you tell yourself you need to prepare for it better, like building more skills first or "getting in the right head space."

It's really common for piano learners to try to stifle or ignore any boredom they experience while studying piano. But is that a good thing to do?

When I started paying closer attention to the source of my boredom, I learned to see it as an important indicator of how aligned my actions were with my true goals.