Consistency Beats Inspiration: How Music Communities Keep You Creating

Consistency Beats Inspiration: How Music Communities Keep You Creating

Musicians often wait for inspiration, but real progress comes from consistency. Joining music communities provides accountability, feedback, and momentum — helping you form habits, complete projects, and grow your skills. From The Beatles to jazz collectives, history shows that collaboration and peer support fuel creativity.

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How to Build a Sustainable Creative Practice (Without Burning Out)

How to Build a Sustainable Creative Practice (Without Burning Out)

A sustainable creative practice isn’t about constant inspiration or pushing harder — it’s about rhythm, structure, and joy. By creating within limits, honoring your nervous system, and making space for satisfaction and flow, you can avoid creative burnout and build a practice that lasts. In this article, I share the strategies that transformed my own creative life and show how structure and inspiration can coexist in your work.

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The Homework Theory: Why Structure Finally Made Me Feel Like a Musician
Musicianship & Skill Development Sarah Stumböck Musicianship & Skill Development Sarah Stumböck

The Homework Theory: Why Structure Finally Made Me Feel Like a Musician

What if the reason you’re not finishing music isn’t a lack of inspiration—but too much freedom? Inspired by Venus Theory’s Homework Theory, this article explores how constraints, deadlines, and structure helped me move from endless creative potential to actually making music. From preparing for a university music aptitude test to working with teachers and deadlines, I share how turning creativity into an assignment—not an option—changed everything.

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Ed Sheeran’s Dirty Faucet Theory: Why Writing Bad Songs Is How You Write Good Ones

Ed Sheeran’s Dirty Faucet Theory: Why Writing Bad Songs Is How You Write Good Ones

Why does writing music often feel so frustrating — even when you know what great music sounds like? In this article, I explore Ed Sheeran’s “dirty faucet” analogy, which reveals why making bad songs is not a failure, but an essential part of learning how to write better songs. Drawing from my own experience, insights from music educators, and reflections on embracing imperfection, this piece offers a grounded perspective on creative growth, patience, and why staying with the process matters more than getting it right.

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The Art of Being a Beginner: How to Build Skill and Enjoy the Process as a Musician
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

The Art of Being a Beginner: How to Build Skill and Enjoy the Process as a Musician

Learning to be a beginner is harder than it seems, especially in a world that celebrates instant skill and perfection. In this post, I share my personal struggles with starting piano, the mistakes I made trying to skip the beginner phase, and the lessons I’ve learned about choosing the right course, building small wins, and embracing vulnerability.

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The Great Slopification: Why the Future Belongs to Human Artists
The Future of Creativity Sarah Stumböck The Future of Creativity Sarah Stumböck

The Great Slopification: Why the Future Belongs to Human Artists

In an era where AI-generated content floods every corner of the internet, genuine human creativity is at risk of being drowned out. From surreal “Shrimp Jesus” images to AI-generated music flooding streaming platforms, the so-called “Great Slopification” threatens to turn the web into a hollow echo chamber. But there’s hope: human art — flawed, vulnerable, and deeply felt — cannot be replicated by machines. In this article, I explore the implications of AI’s rise for artists, musicians, and creators, and why the future of meaningful art will always belong to those who live, feel, and create from the heart.

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Rebellion: When the Creative Self Fights Back
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

Rebellion: When the Creative Self Fights Back

Some days creativity flows with ease, and other days it feels stolen by endless to-dos and obligations. On those days, anger rises … not as destruction, but as rebellion. In this piece, I explore how that anger is actually the voice of the neglected creative self, demanding space, and how we can learn to channel it into meaningful expression instead of repression.

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The Gig: Redefining Success Beyond Perfection
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

The Gig: Redefining Success Beyond Perfection

When I led my very first Singing Circle in front of a group of strangers, in an unfamiliar setting, I entered it with the idea, that success meant perfection. What I learned instead was far more liberating: success is showing up honestly, learning as you go, and refusing to punish yourself for imperfections. Redefining success isn’t just about music: it’s about building resilience, flow, and trust in your own creative path.

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Painting as a Teacher
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

Painting as a Teacher

Perfectionism is the silent killer of creativity. Great artists didn’t create masterpieces every time—they created constantly, trusting the process. True originality comes not from flawless output, but from curiosity, courage, and the willingness to be imperfect. Today I describe how painting is helping me be imperfect in music.

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Comparison, the Victim Mindset, and the Hidden Work of Art
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

Comparison, the Victim Mindset, and the Hidden Work of Art

Comparison is one of the greatest thieves of creativity. As artists, we slip so easily into the story that others were “dealt better cards”—more talent, more privilege, fewer struggles. But art has a way of reflecting those shadows back to us. It doesn’t just demand practice and skill; it demands that we face the narratives of “not enough” and keep creating anyway.

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You’re Not Behind — You’re Becoming: A Love Letter to the Slow-Burning Musician
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

You’re Not Behind — You’re Becoming: A Love Letter to the Slow-Burning Musician

Feeling overwhelmed while holding onto your musical dreams? This love letter is for the slow-burning, deeply sensitive artist navigating exhaustion, ambition, and the winding path of creativity. You’re not falling behind — you’re becoming. Let this be a reminder that your softness is part of your strength.

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What a Busker Taught Me About Playing the Long Game in My Creative Journey
Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck Creative Process & Growth Sarah Stumböck

What a Busker Taught Me About Playing the Long Game in My Creative Journey

Embracing the long game is essential for any artist in the early stages of growth. In this post, I reflect on what I learned from meeting an inspiring busker in Freiburg, who helped me envision a life dedicated to music, even if the journey is slow. Discover why “zooming out” and keeping your creative vision alive can help you navigate the ups and downs. Ready to deepen your commitment? Then this read is for you.

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A woman with long hair sitting on a large rock with two dogs, one white with brown ears and the other smaller, on a grassy hill under a clear blue sky with some clouds.