Performance is the heart and soul of any musician . While not all of us will perform in Carnegie Hall, most of us can get the benefits and positive feedback that performance provides by participating in home concerts and recitals. These home concerts are meant to be positive, even fun, experiences for everyone. Once a year I hold a more formal recital at a local church. I also encourage my students to become involved in group musical performances, such as chamber music , for the personal and musical growth that group performing provides the solo pianist.
Competitions are a great motivator for the students and teacher alike.
The key is to participate with the idea of achieving a personal goal, not on winning. It's great for students to get some outside feedback on their musical progress, and the judges' critiques on the students performances can be helpful to the teacher in setting learning priorities. I also feel it helps the students a lot by letting them hear and meet other students and finding out what level of playing they are at, and how they practice, etc. Teacher and student alike often return from a competition reinvigorated. If you would like to learn more about the piano and how to learn to play it, please check out the Internet's largest site devoted to piano education, The Piano Education Page .