Scrolling through Instagram, you can find smiling faces, birthday parties, and celebratory events. However, somewhere amid the cute puppies and funny memes, you’ll find a community of musical performers and classical musicians, perhaps comparing interpretations of their complex repertoire or joking about practicing for 40 hours straight. Among this tight-knit clique lies a small nook of dedication and musical appreciation by a young up-and-coming pianist.

That hidden gem is the piano practice account of Imy Gao ‘26, titled @letitgaopiano. Used as a daily tracker for musical progress, the dedicated pianist posts updates on her instrument, repertoire, and relatable music jokes. Building a community of 217 followers through 153 posts, Imy’s consistency has garnered substantial attention, with over 20,000 accumulated views. More importantly, though, the account serves as a reminder to herself that improvement isn’t a linear process.

“I saw a lot of people and friends begin to create accounts around me,” Imy said. “It seemed like a fun outlet for myself. It’s been a bit since I began it, but it gives me something to look back on, and helps me remember that I really have gotten better, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

One among the large network of musicians at Westwood and in Austin, Imy was inspired by peers, including instrument practice account pioneer Dorian Herri ‘26, to begin her account. Despite her 11 years of experience with large-scale piano performances, she initially found posting to be nerve-racking and new.

“I think I was nervous at first, for sure,” Imy said. “It was scary because you’re really putting yourself out there, and the whole world can see [you]. When starting, it’s kind of awkward to put out your first post.”

Despite the shaky start, Imy quickly found her place in the algorithm, starting a series of practice videos, often with silly introductory captions. As she grew more accustomed to posting, she better understood musicians’ reasoning behind starting their accounts. Other piano players began to reach out, supporting her through comments or direct messages (DMs). Some even asked for advice, starting long conversations about music in spite of no prior meeting. Bonded by their appreciation for the arts, Imy was encouraged and inspired by the positive feedback.

“I started getting DMs from people who I didn’t even know,” Imy said. “It was nice to be able to talk about music without having any other connections. I felt very connected with the music community, but at the same time, [I was] not pressured to know everything about this other person.”

Looking forward to extending her journey in music, Imy aims to continue her studies of the piano, even throughout college. She is not afraid to be ambitious, aiming to pursue the medical track while furthering her piano studies. Despite the difficulty that comes with the pursuit of both fields, Imy wouldn’t have it any other way. Though piano is often considered a strenuous path, she believes that abandoning one of her lifelong passions to focus on another would do more harm than good.

“Music has been a huge part of my life for a really long time,” Imy said. “I’m really looking forward to continuing that, and I hope I can keep getting better.”

Even now, Imy proves herself to be the best of the best. As the only pianist in the Westwood Orchestra, one of her most recent achievements includes being selected to perform at the TonicCon Festival at Los Angeles, co-hosted by the Colburn School of Music and Ray Chen, a world-renowned professional violinist. At their evening concert on Oct. 11, 2024, Imy played a powerful rendition of Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 by Frédéric Chopin; her performance was later posted on YouTube.

“Getting to perform at this event was such an amazing experience, especially something sponsored by someone like Ray Chen,” Imy said. “The entire experience was kind of surreal. I was really happy because it felt like my work had paid off.”

Moving forward, Imy has begun a more lighthearted approach to her platform, including life updates explaining why she’s unable to practice to her followers. Still, her main goal is to continue using her platform to inspire fellow young pianists, especially around Austin, Texas and Westwood.

“If I could tell other musicians or beginners anything, I would tell them not to give up,” Imy said. “The piano isn’t an easy instrument. Sometimes it gets very lonely, especially compared to instruments based in larger groups, such as violins in the orchestra. But if you love the instrument, it is so fulfilling and you can always find ways to improve. Anyone can do it.”

At first glance, Instagram guitar practice account @gopherplaysguitar feed might look like chaos: a blur of classical guitar pieces, meme captions, and borderline absurd humor. From adopting popular memes like Pibble to making his own, like the “Two Orange and Colgate Challenge,” these reels might seem random to the average scroller, but that’s exactly the point.

With 1,178 followers and a viral satirical reel about Believer by Imagine Dragons that has pulled in over 845,000 views and 92,000 likes, @gopherplaysguitar — better known as Brandon Kim ‘26 — has made a name for himself as the guitarist who refuses to take himself too seriously. His success has not come from playing typical scales, but from taking those scales and turning them into something that appeals to the broad audience, making them as funny and trendy as he can.

“I started playing guitar when I was six or seven [years old],” Brandon said. “But I didn’t want to be just another kid who plays classical pieces perfectly. I wanted to do something weird — something that shows I’m not just a stereotype.”

His drive to stand apart from similar guitar practice accounts was where @gopherplaysguitar came from. A mix of honed skill and brain rot humor, his content is unpredictable. One day he’s practicing classical music, the next he’s editing himself to have laser eyes into his performances or making funny videos with friends.

“I wanted to fight that image of the stereotypical Asian kid who just practices all day,” Brandon said. “So I started adding brain rot, sleep phonk, random stuff. I just experiment. I just look at my account and post the most unorthodox things you can imagine. If you see a little Asian kid playing a song, you’re like, ‘okay, it’s a little Asian kid playing a song.’
There’s nothing special. But what makes it extra special [is] if he’s brain-rotted.”

His Believer cover, which blew up unexpectedly, is a perfect example of what comes out of his chaotic process, where he plays seemingly random notes over the excessively loud audio of the song. Embracing imperfectionism, Brandon’s intention is not to impress but to humor.

“I kind of messed up the editing,” Brandon said. “There are two versions of the song playing over each other, and people started making fun of me. But honestly, I thought it was pretty good.”

Even with the playful and seemingly unserious tone of @gopherplaysguitar, Brandon’s account has had positive effects in real life. His creativity in social media content creation attracted the attention of several Westwood clubs. Seeing potential in using social media to advertise their clubs and maximize outreach, these clubs invited him to help run their social media pages by creating club-related reels.

“[The account] led me to new opportunities,” Brandon said. “Four clubs, Neuroscience and Neurodiversity Club, Chemistry Club, First Tech Challenge team Cosmobotics, and Physics Club, invited me to be their social media manager, and I made one reel for each of them.”

Even as the most popular musician in the group, Brandon sees his peers not as competition but as people to learn from, crediting progress as motivation for his own.

“In my eyes, Dorian [Herri ‘26] stands as the godfather of Westwood,” Brandon said. “He was practicing account prime, and we’re all his offspring in a sense. As for Natalie [Ju ‘26] and Imy, [they are] the mafioso version of Thing 1 and Thing 2, which is a compliment. As for where I stand among the others, I guess I consider myself the court jester. If this all were a movie, I’d expect to be left out in the first twenty minutes, so I’m surprised that I’ve stayed this relevant online.”

Though it started off as a lighthearted pursuit of passion, his practice account has reshaped Brandon’s real-life persona. With an ever-growing social media following, he’s now widely recognized around school as the guitarist who makes brain rot content.

“People recognize me now,” Brandon said. “They’ll be like, ‘Hey, you’re that guitar guy,’ and even if they think I’m kind of dumb, that’s fine. I’d rather be memorable than boring.”

While Brandon appreciates the support he gets online, his intention remains the same as when he started the account: to have fun.

“I’m crafting content for the purpose of it to humor my friends,” Brandon said. “Guitar was the vessel to make people laugh. [Going viral] isn’t necessarily important.”

In the future, Brandon hopes to continue playing the guitar. At his core, however, Brandon’s message to the music community is simple: loosen up.

“People are too strict about instruments,” Brandon said. “If you can play Fantaisie-Impromptu [by Frédéric Chopin] at 200 beats per minute, that’s cool. But what’s cooler is if you actually have fun with it. Add your own personality. Be weird, and more importantly that you recognize the gift you were given, and truly embrace it. None of that ranting that’s so unfortunately common among young musicians. Recognize that you’re skilled and show it off, but in your own personal way — otherwise your talent is wasted. What difference does it make if you can perform as if you embody musicality itself, when the auditorium you’re playing for is empty?”

Going on, Brandon plans to continue playing the guitar and potentially his Instagram account. Drawing on his local community of musicians, he wants to see how his fellow creators continue their accounts before deciding on a path.

“I’m going to see what everyone else does, and then I’m going to gauge the environment. If everyone else keeps doing it, I will keep [posting].” Brandon said.

While Brandon Kim ‘26’s feed bursts with chaos, Dorian Herri ‘26 tunes his double bass in soft light, the camera catching the calm before an audition. His Instagram feels less like a performance and more like a meditation and quiet record of growth, one note at a time.

“I started my Instagram about a year ago,” Dorian said. “At first, it was just to motivate myself to practice every day. I wanted to hold myself accountable.”

Over the course of almost a full year, @dorianwiththebass has grown to 212 dedicated followers. Sharing his discipline and music with the world, Dorian documented his progress daily, posting practice videos and occasional vlogs for 250 days straight. While Kim’s videos are more playful, Dorian’s were more straightforward and focused on his instrument. The posting goal was 365 days, but despite stopping short, the journey left an impression.

“[The challenge] was actually really fun,” Dorian said. “Over time, it stopped being just about consistency. It turned into something my friends and I shared. We joked around, encouraged each other, and made it fun.”

Dorian’s constant practice wasn’t just for fun, though; he had a larger goal in mind, and the effort paid off. In February of 2025, Dorian was accepted into the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), one of the most competitive youth music programs in the country.

“It was a month-long program in New York,” Dorian said. “After that, we went on a two-week tour of East Asia. We performed in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Seoul [in Korea]. It was honestly life-changing.”

The announcement of his NYO acceptance drew attention online, too. With the most reposts Dorian had ever seen, he now had a new goal in mind: do his best at NYO. This was reflected in the videos that followed this announcement, with him specifically posting NYO practice videos, For Dorian, however, the most rewarding part isn’t the recognition — it’s knowing that his consistency inspired others.

“When I got the email, I posted it, and a bunch of accounts reposted it and I got a bunch of views,” Dorian said. “For about 250 days [I posted], and then I stopped. The goal was to get to a year, but [250 days] was a lot for me.”

Unlike Kim’s page, which is marked by humor atypical of music practice accounts, Dorian’s account is quieter and revels in introspection. Although Dorian may not create content with the goal of appealing to the meme side of the internet, he helped spark a small movement at Westwood in his own way. Unbeknownst to many, Dorian left behind a legacy.

“I was actually the first one to make a practice account, and then maybe 150 days later, a bunch of others started, including Brandon. I thought that was really cool,” Dorian said.

Though he’s stopped posting daily now, Dorian looks back on the project with pride. Inspiring many to start their own, Dorian’s initiative has led to a revolution in the school’s circle of musicians, introducing a new way for students to keep themselves accountable while building a community.

“I’ve kind of stopped now, but it ended up turning into a fun little thing with a few other friends,” Dorian said. “If [people] can see somebody putting in the work that is practicing for anything, especially for an instrument, I hope that that can help them find some motivation to also put in the hours so they can achieve the results they want.”

As the video starts recording and the bow meets the strings, it isn’t perfection that Natalie Ju ’26 hopes to capture, but persistence. On her Instagram account @juju_0n_th4t_beat, Natalie has posted over 98 videos capturing her progress, ranging from scales and symphonic excerpts to practice vlogs and progress checks. What began as a simple practice account shared between friends has grown into a reflection of her journey with the violin, filled with trial, hesitation, and rediscovered passion.

“It was me, Dorian, Imy, and Brandon,” Natalie said. “We decided to make private accounts just to hold each other accountable. It started as something fun, like posting clips, keeping track of practice, and motivating each other.”

At first, the account was purely practical, meant to prepare for upcoming competitions. Over time, however, Natalie found a more personal meaning within the posts.

“Before, it was kind of just like a daily practice session,” Natalie said. “But then it became a way to measure myself and to see my improvement over time. I also wanted to share my music with the world.”

Natalie’s relationship with the violin didn’t begin out of passion, however. Like many kids, she was nudged into lessons by her parents. Both of her older siblings played, so by age four, she found herself holding a tiny violin, following along without much choice. For years, the instrument was simply a routine: lessons, practice, repeat. It wasn’t until high school that she began to understand what music could mean for her. Surrounded by peers who shared the same drive, she began to enjoy improving simply for herself.

“I used to put so much weight on competitions and auditions,” Natalie said. “But in high school, I started focusing more on the actual music, not just the numbers or rankings. Playing in an orchestra showed me how music connects people. It made me love it again.”

Now a senior, Natalie has been part of the Westwood Symphony Orchestra since freshman year, performing in countless concerts and competitions. Every summer, new All-Region and All-State Orchestra excerpts are released, marking the start of months filled with repetition, recording sessions, and refinement. The audition season begins in the fall, with All-State recordings sent in October and conventions held the following February. Since freshman year, Natalie has made the All-State Orchestra every year, becoming a prized yearly experience for her.

“You get to go to this huge convention in San Antonio [in Texas] in February, and it’s so fun. I just want to make it again this year,” Natalie said. “It’s my last one, so I want it to be the best one.”

However, keeping that momentum isn’t easy. Between college applications and the stress of senior year, finding time to practice daily takes effort. Yet, Natalie keeps going, reminding herself of how far she’s come since those early years when the violin felt like an obligation.

“I actually stopped posting for a while,” Natalie said. “I got self-conscious about my playing. It felt scary to have people watch me when I wasn’t confident yet.”

But the pause taught her something about herself. 

“I think I’m going to start again. Not to prove anything, but just to make people happy with music,” Natalie said.

Upon being interviewed, Natalie took to Instagram to announce the revival of her account in a deeply personal reel, sharing how she took a break from posting due to feelings of self-consciousness. Her interview inspired her to set aside her aim for perfection and simply strive to live her life as freely as possible.

“I got interviewed yesterday by the Westwood Student Press about this account, and I was kind of sad because I don’t post on it anymore,” Natalie said in her reel. “I miss posting every day. I was doing some reflection, and why do I care about what little people on my phone care about my playing? The point of a practice account is to get better anyway by recording yourself, so I’m going to start posting again. Also, it’s my senior year, so I’m not going to be playing violin much longer, so I’m going to post every day until I graduate.”

After graduation, Natalie doesn’t plan to put her violin away. Though she’s decided against double majoring, she hopes to join a university orchestra and continue private lessons in college. From the early days of being forced to play to now finding purpose through sharing her music, Natalie’s journey recording videos taught her to embrace imperfection and find beauty in practice itself.

“Before, I just sped up the videos, so you couldn’t even hear my playing,” Natalie said. “But now, I just want to share the real stuff. The silly challenges, the music, everything. I think I’m gonna keep posting, at least until college.”