It’s happened to every creative musician!
The ideas are flowing, then suddenly…an impasse!
So, what do you do?
First, get up and walk around.
Empty your mind for 30 seconds.
Go back your instrument and play
a fragment of your music. Then stop.
Play it in another key. Play it upside down.
Repeat it in a sequence -
(one step higher, up a scale tone).
Add 1, 2, 3 new notes to your fragment.
Keep mixing it up.
Play it your other hand. In octaves.
As parallel 3rds, 5ths, 7ths, etc.
Play it randomly throughout your instrument.
Change its rhythm.
Give the other hand a new accomp pattern.
Try singing it. Make up lyrics.
Now play the music you’ve created
up to this point.
As you play, try not to think
self-consciously about your composition.
When you get to the end-point,
make the playing continue.
If it’s not to your liking, go back
a few measures and try again to go beyond.
If you’re onto the right idea(s),
stop a few seconds,
then work it out in new ways,
repeatedly, in white heat!
Add “wrong” notes! Art Tatum, jazz pianist:
“There is no such thing as a wrong note.”
Begin at different points;
allow your subconscious mind to take over.
Let it be easy.
You may need to stop to
notate sketches in your mind.
If you are using midi sequencer software,
try saving each sketch as a small file.
Listening to your composition
played on your computer
may allow your creative mind to hear it fresh
and the Aha moments may suddenly appear.
Have you ever wondered why teachers ask you to
play scales, arpeggios and sequences?
It’s all about knowing your instrument.
If your fingers find the notes of a scale quickly
then your mind and fingers find the music in that scale.
Practicing the rhythm patterns in a musicianship book
make lots of patterns easy and in your music memory.
That makes it easy for your sub-conscious to mix them up.
Inspiration comes to musicians who play often.
Try improvising music freely if you have an impasse.
The magic moments of creating music will always be yours.
Keep building your musianship skills and
keep finding new ways to play your riffs or ideas.
Your music identity will come from always finding
odd or incorrect notes and rhythms.
Feel the larger form of your music,
so that it all feels right toogether.
The way out of any creative impasse is to
find new ways for your music idea to grow or develop.
Your love for the music will bring
new music “children” into being.
When your composition is finished,
you will suddenly feel a strange separation.
What was living and breathing in you,
now has a wonderful life of its own.
Ready to make friends with other musicians.
And you will have a deeper
feeling and understanding
of your music creation powers.
Smile and be proud!
