Piano Influencer: How I Did It + How You Can, Too

For the aspiring composer or piano influencer… this message is for you. I want to encourage the pianists and musicians that have the desire to share their music with the world! If I can do it, then you most certainly can, too.

I’m going to share all my tips and tricks with you on how I learned to become a piano influencer.

There are many steps to becoming an artist. This blog will cover the basics to give you a starting point in gaining influence. In future posts, I will share:

• The process of copyrighting your music
• How to get on the main platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, etc.
• How royalty checks work
• Different ways to compose/write music 
• Much, much more!

You need to make sure you’ll see the next blog regarding these topics! If you choose to subscribe to my email list, I will be sure to send you the blog topics that only you would like to receive and that will serve as a resource to you. Click here to sign up! 

Piano Influencer: Path to Fame: 

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tara Boykin (O’Brien). I started playing the piano when I was four and a half years old. The piano has always been my passion and my escape. I can’t imagine a world without piano in it. In short, I started teaching when I was 14 years old and I wrote my first piece, Cascade, when I was a sophomore in high school (16 years old). In fact, that song alone has generated over $4000 in sales since I published it in 2009. If only my 16-year-old-self knew! 

I will say, becoming a piano influencer didn’t happen overnight; Cascade took me five months to write and the full album took even longer. My first album was named Cascade to honor the very first piece I ever composed. In the beginning, I had no idea I was even writing a piece. I just started playing and I was like “ooh that sounds pretty!” Suddenly, I had a composition. Cascade was the vehicle into the musician side of my piano career. Who knew it would lead to four albums and counting… (yes, I’m working on my fifth!)

Everything stems from Cascade. I have Cascade Method, which is my Piano Teacher Training Program and an associated piano theory book, also called Cascade Method. I run my own school, called Cascade Melody School of Music, I  have multiple products on Amazon, teach my own students each week, and manage to keep coming up with new albums! Needless to say, I live and breathe piano. 

Here’s where you can find me playing…

 

 

 

 

 

What it takes to become a Piano Influencer 

In this paragraph, I’m going to discuss what it takes to become a piano influencer. It’s okay if you have a completely different story than I do. You and I need to have only one thing in common: passion.

If you are passionate about what you are trying to do, then you will succeed but having passion isn’t going to magically make you a famous artist. It will be the trait you need to get through the doubts and failure.

My Advice for the Aspiring Composer/Piano Influencer 

• Stay true to yourself.
• Resonate with people.
• Stay authentic.

My goal was to never be “famous.” I’m a wife and momma, and I just want my family to be taken care of and I want to be able to do what I love for a living! If your goal is to be famous, you need to be authentic in your road to fame. Why do you want to be famous? Why do you want people to follow you? I feel if you are a MILLION PERCENT PASSIONATE about what you do, others will follow you. They will love and feel every bit of passion that you’re sharing with them.

Ask yourself these questions: why do I want to share my music with the world? Why am I passionate about this? Why should other people care? Once you know those answers, live and breathe that truth.

Composing: A Tactic That Helped Me

Fortunately, composing music came naturally to me. My outlook on playin

g the piano explains why. I like to consider all the music I write my personal diary; I’m not trying to write for anyone else but for myself.

The rifts and the changes in each of my pieces explains a part of my life. Whenever I listen to one of my pieces, I can remember exactly where I was and what I was dealing with at that time.

To sum it up, the best thing that you can do is be yourself. Don’t sit down at the piano with the intention of “I’m going to write a full song.” Just let the keyboard speak through you! You have it inside you, your passion is there! Now, allow it to find itself!

KEY POINT: Don’t focus on playing to make money. Just love to play.  

There are two keys to success: passion and authenticity. I believe that you must lead with your passion and authenticity, not your checkbook. Most importantly, look past the price tag and don’t expect anything. If you DO get something… well, that’s just a bonus! 

I hope that this will inspire you to continue on the path to composer status! You can do it and I’m cheering for you! Get ready for more juicy details and resources on how I grew my piano influence!

 

Did we just become best friends?
YES!

Follow me on Instagram, @TaraUnchained!

Follow The Cascade Method, too!