MangoldProject makes great jazz piano tutorials on Youtube. Several of his suggestions for finding motivation resonate with me:
- Practice is a habit – Try committing 5 minutes a day every day for 3-4 weeks. It is more important to solidify this core habit (and eventually increase practice time) than to practice long hours intermittently.
- Go to live shows and perform in them – Watching great musicians infuses you with fresh motivation to become better / more like them. Having to perform your work, especially solo, also significantly drives the desire to improve – using your fear of humiliation constructively – and often brings gentle validation of your progress, too.
My favorite of his suggestions is that one should find a partner, mirror, rival, and goal.
- A partner is someone you practice with. This could be someone with whom you physically practice in the same place and at the same time (like a gym buddy), or someone going through a similar experience with whom you can regularly review practice progress (like discussing your practice session with another musician each day).
- A rival is someone whom you see as your equal, against whom you can compare yourself. When the relationship is healthy, the rival activates your competitive instincts toward growth.
- A mirror (or critic) is someone who gives you feedback about how well you are doing. A good mirror is someone whose opinions you value and trust, and who isn’t afraid to be candid with you about both the positive and negative aspects of your work. Teachers can be good mirrors. You can also become your own critic if you can reduce your personal bias; a good way to do this is to record yourself and watch/listen.
- A goal is someone whom you aspire to become like. (While we personally know our partner, rival, and mirror, we often don’t personally know our goal.)
When I initially began working on creative projects, I felt the intense desire to operate alone. Solitude still has an important place in my creative process, but I’m much more aware now of how community affects my sense of motivation.