You are more likely to hear the word “creativity” when talking about the arts than you are to hear the word “imagination.” We usually speak of creating — not imagining — something artistic. Nonetheless, when we do use both words, we tend to use them interchangeably; we think of someone’s creative abilities as being synonymous with their […]
A year or so ago, I wrote a post about the power of boredom to songwriters. In short, the research is showing that people who are bored score higher in creativity tests. This morning I was listening to a program on CBC Radio 1 called “Ripple Effect.” Part of the show was devoted to the […]
Give your songwriting talents their best shot – Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBooks. There are many causes of songwriter’s block, but regardless of its origins, it all manifests itself as being a fear of failure. It’s an unpleasant mix of distress and panic. As you pick up your guitar to get to work […]
More than many other creative endeavours, songwriting is largely an improvisatory art. That notion of improvisation largely happens on two levels: The writing of the song, which is often the spontaneous, “on-the-fly” generation of musical ideas. The performance of the song, which involves players reacting spontaneously to the ideas of bandmates. Every kind of creative activity in the arts […]
When you have difficulties writing good music, there can be any number of causes. Often we blame our level of creativity when there are other more likely suspects: fatigue, disorganization, fear of failure, and so on. It’s tricky to blame our level of creativity because we’re inclined to believe that creativity is similar to a pool […]
A few weeks back I wrote about the need to save your failed songs. That’s because you might be surprised how something that sounds completely lame in one setting will sound much better in a different one, and it’s important to leave that option open. That’s got me thinking about something similar today: our negative […]
