Updated 28 January – The name of this blog post war formerly “Your Music, Your Art Isn’t Lacking Skill – It’s Lacking Courage”

Many musicians believe they are stuck because they lack skill.

They assume they need more technique, more theory, better gear, or more practice hours. And while skill matters, it’s rarely the true bottleneck. More often, what holds musicians back is something quieter and harder to admit:

perfectionism, fear, and hesitation to be seen.

Musical growth doesn’t stall because we can’t play — it stalls because we’re afraid to play imperfectly, to share unfinished work, or to let our sound be heard before it feels “ready.”

In other words, the obstacle is not ability — it’s courage.

You may practice endlessly in private, but without sharing your development will plateau.

This is why musicians with fewer technical skills but greater willingness to share often progress faster,

Perfectionism in Music: A Hidden Growth Blocker

Perfectionism in music often disguises itself as dedication, discipline, or artistic integrity. Wanting to “get it right” sounds responsible — even admirable. High standards are, after all, part of any serious craft. But perfectionism is not the same as care. Where care supports growth, perfectionism quietly constrains it.

In practice, perfectionism tends to shift a musician’s attention away from making music and toward monitoring themselves [1]. Instead of listening, experimenting, and responding, the mind becomes preoccupied with how things should sound, how mistakes might be perceived, or how the work compares to others’.

Over time, this creates predictable patterns:

musicians over-prepare before they allow themselves to play freely
pieces are refined endlessly without ever feeling finished
sharing is postponed until some imagined future version of the work
confidence is treated as a prerequisite, rather than something that grows through action

Psychological research consistently links perfectionism to increased fear of evaluation and reduced creative output [2][3]. When the brain is focused on judgment — real or imagined — cognitive resources are redirected toward self-monitoring and error avoidance. This suppresses exploratory thinking, risk-taking, and play, all of which are essential for musical development.

In other words, perfectionism activates the brain’s threat response rather than its learning systems. Instead of entering states of curiosity or flow, musicians remain vigilant, cautious, and tense. Creativity becomes effortful. Practice feels heavy. Progress slows.

The long-term result is a frustrating paradox: technically capable musicians who know a great deal, practice a lot, and yet rarely finish work, rarely share it, and rarely feel satisfied with what they create.

Not because they lack ability — but because perfectionism has turned music from a space of exploration into a space of constant evaluation.

Why Skill Alone Is Not Enough

Skill is cumulative. It grows through repetition, feedback, and exposure. But none of those processes can happen fully without output.

Musical skill develops in a loop:

practice → expression → feedback → integration

Perfectionism interrupts this loop by stopping expression.

You may practice endlessly in private, but without sharing — even informally — growth becomes abstract. Music stays hypothetical. And without real-world friction, learning stagnates.

This is why musicians with fewer technical skills but greater willingness to share often progress faster than highly trained musicians who remain hidden.

perfectionism activates the brain’s threat response rather than its learning systems – and Triggers a state of constant self-evaluation.

The key? The courage to share imperfectly breaks the limiting cycle of perfectionism.

The Fear of Sharing Music

Fear of sharing music is not a personal flaw — it’s a deeply human response.

From an evolutionary perspective, social rejection once carried real survival risk. Modern creative exposure triggers that same nervous system response. Sharing a song, a voice, or a musical idea activates vulnerability, even when no actual danger exists.

Common fears include:

sounding amateur
being misunderstood
not being “musical enough”
being compared to others

But avoiding exposure reinforces the fear. Each time sharing is postponed, the brain learns that hiding is safer — even though growth depends on doing the opposite.

What Philosophy and Psychology Agree On

Philosophers and psychologists across traditions converge on one insight:

Action precedes confidence — not the other way around.

Aristotle described excellence as a habit formed through repeated action. Modern psychology echoes this: confidence emerges after engagement, not before it.

In creativity research, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s work on flow shows that deep engagement arises when attention is fully absorbed in the act itself — not when outcomes are evaluated in advance.

Perfectionism pulls musicians out of the present moment and into imagined judgment. Courage returns attention to the act of making music.

Action precedes confidence — not the other way around.

How to Grow as a Musician Without Perfectionism

Overcoming perfectionism in music doesn’t mean lowering standards — it means changing when standards are applied.

Here are practical principles that support musical growth without paralysis:

1. Separate Practice From Performance

Practice is for exploration, mistakes, and uncertainty. Performance is for delivery. When musicians expect performance-level results during practice, creativity shuts down.

2. Share Before You Feel Ready

Readiness is not a prerequisite for sharing. It is a result of it. Even informal sharing — with one person, a small group, or a recording — accelerates learning.

3. Focus on Expression, Not Evaluation

Instead of asking, “Is this good enough?” ask:

Does this communicate something?
Does it feel honest?
Does it move forward?

4. Allow Imperfect Completion

Finishing imperfect work teaches more than refining endlessly. Completion builds momentum, confidence, and clarity.

Making Music Without Perfectionism

Music that resonates rarely does so because it is flawless.

It resonates because it carries:

intention
presence
risk
humanity

Historically, many musical movements emerged not from polished mastery, but from urgency, experimentation, and expression — from jazz improvisation to folk traditions to early rock and electronic music.

Perfectionism smooths edges. Courage preserves character.

The Paradox of Musical Growth

The very things musicians fear exposing:

roughness
uncertainty
simplicity
incompleteness

are often what make music relatable and alive.

Trying to sound “advanced” too early often delays real growth. Allowing yourself to sound honest accelerates it.

Conclusion: Courage Is a Practice

Musical growth is not just a technical process — it is a psychological one.

If you want to grow as a musician, skill will matter. But courage will matter more:

the courage to share
the courage to finish
the courage to sound like yourself before you sound like who you imagine you should be

Overcoming perfectionism in music is not about caring less — it’s about caring differently.

Your music doesn’t need to be perfect.
It needs to be present.

And presence is something you can practice — one imperfect note at a time.

References

[1] Goulet-Pelletier, J.-C., Gaudreau, P., & Cousineau, D. (2022). Is perfectionism a killer of creative thinking? A test of the model of excellencism and perfectionism. British Journal of Psychology, 113(1), 176–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12530

In Is perfectionism a killer of creative thinking? researchers examined how different motivational orientations — striving for excellence versus striving for perfection — relate to creative output. They measured participants’ performance on divergent-thinking and associative tasks, which are commonly used markers of creative potential.

What they found:

People aiming for excellence tended to produce more original and flexible responses.
Those oriented toward perfectionism showed lower openness to experience and generated fewer creative ideas.
While perfectionist individuals may still have strong creative self-beliefs, in objective task performance they demonstrated weaker indicators of creative thinking.

This pattern supports the idea that a perfection-centered focus can restrict exploratory thinking and reduce creative productivity — especially in situations that demand openness, risk-taking, and idea generation.

[2] Stoeber, J., & Eysenck, M. W. (2007). Perfectionism and efficiency: Evidence for a performance-related distinction between perfectionistic strivings and concerns. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45(4), 723–735.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2006.05.020

The researchers distinguish between:

Perfectionistic strivings (high personal standards)
Perfectionistic concerns (fear of mistakes, fear of evaluation, self-criticism)

They found that perfectionistic concerns:

Increase self-monitoring and error vigilance
Consume working memory and attentional resources
Reduce task efficiency and flexible responding

In other words: When people are worried about being judged or making mistakes, mental energy shifts from exploration to control.

[3] Stoeber, J., Damian, L. E., & Madigan, D. J. (2018). Perfectionism: A motivational perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 127, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.007

Evaluative concern perfectionism is associated with:

Avoidance of risk
Fear of negative evaluation
Reduced creative engagement

Creative behavior suffers when individuals prioritize error-avoidance over exploration.