Newsletter for music lovers who want to gain confidence in and explore their inner musician.

Who, me? Creative?

When I was a college student learning how to teach music, I hadn’t yet tapped into my natural creative self. Comparing myself to fellow students, I had thoughts like, “Terry comes up with such great lesson plans. He’s so creative,” followed by, “But I don’t have any creative ideas. I’ll never be a good teacher.”

Unfortunately, I believed that statement for too long. On the plus side, I didn’t believe it forever because I discovered – or rather UNcovered my creative talented teacher self.

In today’s newsletter, I will share how I found my true creative self and how you can, too!

Here are five activities that practiced regularly have fired up my creative self:

• Morning Pages
• Playing With Children
• Exercise
• Regular Drawing
• Jazz Improvisation

Morning Pages

Morning Pages are a daily writing exercise that Julia Cameron encourages in her book, The Artist’s Way. Every morning upon waking, I make a cup of tea, pet the cats, and sit on the couch to write. It’s a free form of writing where the only guideline is to keep the pen moving across the page and stop when I’ve filled three pages.

This activity has done so much for me in terms of silencing my inner critic. Self-censoring stops creativity cold. Conversely, when the censor is shut down, creativity can flow forth easily.

Many creative acts may start as a “silly” idea that when encouraged and supported into fullness, can become a great work of art. By writing in this free form style, my mind and thought processes get used to unencumbered, unlimited flow.

Playing With Children

Not only is this fun, it is also good for you. When our goddaughter was an infant (now almost 14), I got down on the rug with her and played. The standard baby interactivity – making funny faces, mimicking her sounds, singing, kissing her hands and feet. As she got older, I stayed on the floor with her and we drummed on any available surface. We played “Beauty Parlor” where she brushed my hair and pinned it up – which, if you know the length of my hair, would be a challenge for any adult! We played with Legos; constructing stacks of blocks, building things with wheels and things with wings.

The games we played were often invented in the moment, inspired by our surroundings or recent events. We still play together. Lately, her favorite “game” to play is making a collage. We cut up images and words from magazines and arrange them on a piece of cardboard. Art!

All of this play is great for the creative juices.

Exercise

Surprise! Exercise or getting one’s body moving contributes to getting one’s creative juices moving too. Exercise impacts your state of mind. I find when I exercise regularly, I feel better both physically and emotionally.

Exercise doesn’t have to be 20 pushups, 40 sit-ups and 60 jumping jacks. Although, it can if that appeals to you. And for a time, that’s what I did. I had a health club membership and loved taking the 7 AM Abdominal Exercise Class 3x a week. Nowadays, I’m more prone to daily walks or bike rides and some yoga every morning. Some people love to dance, run, or skateboard.

The point is to have some kind of physical exercise to keep yourself mentally and emotionally sound.

You also want to be in shape when your creative forces burst forth.

Pen and Ink Drawing

This is something I practice at. I enjoy drawing, in particular drawing small objects in great detail or a small section of something larger. I slip into a timeless state while drawing. When I look at an object, whether it’s a flower or my cell phone, I’m seeing the lines that make up that shape.

In that timeless state, I am drawing lines, not a flower. At the end, when I’ve drawn all the lines that I see, there is a flower on my paper!

The act of drawing helps me see in a different way from my normal way of seeing. When I am faced with a “problem” to solve, this different way of seeing helps me come up with more possible solutions — more creative solutions.

Jazz Improvisation

It’s funny how the act of creating begets more creating. I’ve been learning the art of jazz improvisation for a number of years and I am still learning. I learn new chord patterns, new phrases, and new approaches to chord changes.

The more I improvise, the more there are new ideas flowing out of my fingers. If we could listen to a recording of my improvising from 20 years ago, it would sound noticeably different from what I play today. My level of maturity and all that I have experienced inform my improvisation. Music I play today is different from yesterday’s … and tomorrow’s.

Unlocking Creative Self

Humans are instinctively creative. Sadly, many of us have shut down our natural creative selves or were inhibited by external forces in society. If you are feeling stale and unimaginative, you can reconnect with your inherent artistic self by following my suggestions. Use them as a starting point. I suspect it won’t be long before you come up with your own ways to cultivate your creativity.

Questions

1. How will you connect with your creative self this week?
2. What one thing will you do this week to foster creativity in your life?

Share your answers with me and my readers: email me or comment below.

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I receive a fair amount of feedback from readers who do not identify as musicians. They find that a particular article connects with them because of its accessibility and the lessons I share that are applicable to life in general. I’m finding that this ezine is for non-musicians as well as musicians.

Yet, I believe we are all musicians, whether realized or not. Still, I understand the hesitancy people feel about identifying themselves as musicians. Some people have a belief that only those who play or sing to a certain high standard may call themselves musicians or be considered a professional musician. And that leaves the moniker of amateur for the rest.

Origins Of An Amateur

Amateur has come to mean a person who engages in an art as a hobby rather than as a profession; also, one lacking the skill of a professional. This crumpling of the word does not sit well with me. Amateur has a much more fitting beginning. The word comes from the Latin, amator (French spelling amateur) meaning lover, devoted friend, devotee, or enthusiastic pursuer of an objective.

Let’s reclaim this word and bring deserved appreciation to amateurs.

The ability to make music is inherent in all of us. If we use the broad definition of music as auditory communication with structure, that is, pitch and rhythm, we have some room to accept ourselves as musicians. Of course, there is no single agreed-upon definition of music and what definitions there are vary according to culture and social context.

Express Your Inner Musician

It is my mission to reach those people who are amateurs of music and want to express their inner musician. I am an amateur of music, a devotee and enthusiastic pursuer of all things music. I love listening to music – on the radio and on youtube.com; in concert and in nature.

I also love expressing music. In my 50 years of life, I have played saxophone and clarinet for 40 of those years. A cello came to me about 15 years ago and I took a year of lessons. On travels, I have picked up hand drums of various sizes and rattles and shakers. Our home has quite a percussion section in it. After attending a weekend workshop with Motherlode, I picked up a harmonica in G. This I keep handy and play at all hours of the day, but especially when traveling. Just recently, I bought a Native American flute in the key of B that gives me great pleasure playing outdoors.

Yes, I love making music and that includes singing. I sing with CDs. At concerts, I join the sing-alongs. Around the house, you can hear me sing my own made-up songs and yes, I whistle while I work!

Singing is probably the most accessible instrument for most people to play since we carry our voice with us. No matter where you go, there it is!

Instrumentalist or Vocalist…or Both!

You may be surprised to learn that in all these years and in all this love of music and expressing music, I have never sung in a chorus. I’ve always considered myself an instrumentalist, not a vocalist. And yet, I love to sing. I am an amateur of singing. There is a lot of music in me and it wants to be expressed.

Beginner’s Mind

This brings me to the concept of Beginner’s Mind, a Buddhist concept that refers to havingan attitude of openness and eagerness when studying a subject. Bringing a lack of preconceptions to your subject just as a beginner would.

I am cultivating Beginner’s Mind in my singing. Today I joined the Aurora Chorus, a women’s chorus in the Portland area whose vision is powerful women singing peace. Tuesday night, I went to the voicing session with conductor, Joan Szymko. What is my vocal range? What part (Soprano 1, 2, Alto 1, 2) would suit me best to sing? Tonight (Thursday) is the first rehearsal for our Dec. 20 performance, Calling On The Spirits. It turns out I sing higher than I thought! I’ll be singing Second Soprano.

Open and Eager to Learn

I expect to be learning a great deal about the voice, about how to create delicious vocal tone, how to blend with one hundred plus women’s voices, and more of which I am as yet unaware.

Every Thursday night, I will bring my Beginner’s Mind to rehearsal, open myself to what Joan teaches, and become a powerful woman singing peace.

Calling All Amateurs!

Are you an amateur of something? Could applying Beginner’s Mind to that which you are devoted, move you forward in your study? How do you use Beginner’s Mind in your everyday life? Share your thoughts with me and my readers: email me or comment below.

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