Here are some tips to make musical performances expressive, which I use in my own playing, and in teaching students to play expressively.

1) Develop a beautiful tone quality for your instrument

2) Be sure your pieces are at the right tempo (if you can, compare your tempo to professional performances of those pieces, especially in intermediate pieces and above)

3) Taper off the ends of phrases by doing a diminuendo, instead of releasing the note suddenly.

4) When playing or singing a series of repeated notes, shape the dynamic level, usually starting soft, then loudest in the middle of those repeated notes, and soft at the end.

5) Use a small amount of unmarked tempo changes (usually a gradual reduction), usually best at the end of a piece or end of a major section of a piece.

6) Be sure you are playing the correct articulations indicated. Many times musicians will slur one note too many.

7) Finally, be sure you play your rhythms precisely, especially dotted rhythms. Emphasize the rhythms in a piece or section of a piece which contain it as a featured element.