Like an actor, a musician is trying to be as dramatic as possible without breaking the spell by being melodramatic, that is, overly dramatic. We want to make our music convincing and powerful, full of emotion. That means louds are louder, crescendos are larger, staccatos are staccato-ier. That means stretching every dimension of music to its' extreme, since most people have a hard time with this and have to really push to not just be adequate. Remember, we don't own any "adequate" "accurate" albums or downloads - we only personally buy music that's awesome to us - so we've got to become awesome and puissant. Two tricks that work for many people are first, try pretending you're someone else, Kelly Clarkson, Eddie Van Halen (any great musician). This is known as a stage persona, a way you act just on stage that gets the job done. Second, try amplifying what's inside. If you feel happy, act ecstatic. If you feel puzzled, act confounded. Over do it. And be aware it IS possible to really over do it, to be so dramatic and emotional that people quit believing your music - the spell is broken. For most people all of this is a stage of learning to place the proper amount of emotion and drama to put in your performance; as this is internalized, you can leave these stages behind - but it usually takes several years to find the right balance. Also, practice being instantly full throttle, instantly making a dramatic performance; not having to "get in the mood" or perform the song 6 times before you're ready to add the emotion. Teach yourself to be instantly, immediately fully performing. Check out www.dallasmusiclessons.com for more information about music and lessons and click "Mark's Posts" for more music discussions.
The better the musician, the smaller number of people like them. More difficult music, smaller audience. That's not necessarily bad.