To composing or playing music, you should probably need many things. Maybe you will have to pay for some of them (an instrument, some classes, recording software, etc.) But you could find them all and still be unable to make music.
Let me remind you that in music as in life there are essential and ancillary things. Besides, I'm gonna tell you a secret: what is essential in making music is already in your mind and heart. Everything else, even a recording studio for $ 20.000 are ancillary things. One more thing: when you find the song you've been looking for, the song everybody will want to hear, surely you'll get all you need to materialize it for free!
Let me share to you 7 actions that have helped me to understand the essence, the intangible, the really valuable when it comes to making music. Let's see:
1. TO DECIDE. It seems trite, but if you have not decided to make music like a way to live, raise happiness and satisfaction, it will be hard for you to make music.
2. TO LISTEN. Start listening to all the music, it doesn't matter if it's either the music you love or hate. Notice how your body and feelings react with each song you hear at: do you get sad? euphoric? do you feel dizzy? Do you feel dancing? are you moving your head? Back and forth or side to side? I'd confess that when I'm listening to some particular parts of Natalia Lafourcade's songs I get a lump in the throat. When I hear Andrés Calamaro I feel like moving my head side to side, but when I listen to Kinky I move my head back and forth. Every sound you hear is a wonderful and unique experience, so try to define in words what it makes you feel. Why should you have to do this for? We'll get into that later, but for sure you'll find out the answer by yourself.
3. ENJOY IT! Developing your music sense is always an adventure. Enjoy it! It's hard to believe that for many people, being a musician is a source of stress. If you get stress from music, surely you wont long so far into it. For example, I like both latin and alternative music, but once I had to play norteno music (It's a kind of music from the north side of Mexico) for a long period of time. I must admit this is not my favorite music, but it's a fact that in every show I played, there were always many reasons to smile and I learned a lot because of that. Try to enjoy all your musical experiences, even dough they're not what you are expecting for.
4. TO RESPECT. For sure, there will always be music we don't like. Sometimes we hate songs that are worldwide hits and we find them wherever we go. It happens to all musicians including myself and it can be a source of frustration and anger toward the world. We ask ourselves what happen to people's minds? Why do people like this? And you know, there are thousands of musicians who have gotten into frustration. I'm gonna tell you an unquestionable truth: both frustration and suffering are optional. Right now you can decide and say time out! this song seems ugly, but have successfully connected with millions of people around the world, and that fact demands respect from me. I respect it and know I can learn something from it. I assure you that with this simple change in your attitude, suffering will go away and you will be able to live the music in a better way.
5. TO SHARE. As stated in the previous post, music is a human language, therefore it makes no sense if you live inside a made up bubble. You could be a heavy metal guitarist, and could rub elbows with maybe a bachata guitarist at some social event. Then you have two possible choices: to get away quickly before someone realize it, or reach out and share some musical experiences. What amp do you use? How do you distribute your music? Is it your CD? A gift to me? Thanks! If we share music to the world, it will return us even more.
6. COPYING. Say you've already decided, you listen, enjoy, respect and share music. It's time to copy. Sing the song of your favorite artist at some karaoke. Play the guitar lick that you like so much. Review that drum fill. Every song made in the world is a step that you can use to your musical growth. In that sense it is very important that we "do not copy the notes." You get the feeling, feelin the groove of that song, the full emotional weight, its essence. I'll give you a key that has to do with action 3: Enjoy your interpretation. If you get stressed because of you can´t get to sound like Van Halen, you're losing the way and probably you will never get it. Be patient and have fun. When you can extract that from other people's songs (don´t worry, you have not to sound exactly alike) you are ready for the next step.
7. CREATE. All the inputs you've accomplished in this course are sufficient to begin to create. People can enjoy to hear you sing like Shakira (It doesn´t really matters if you are male or female, at this times you can see everything) but I assure you people will also enjoy hearing what you have to say. You can start making variations of the songs that imitated: Shakira makes these notes, but I would have done it this way. Eric Clapton plays the lick on the fourth fret, but I think it sounds better over here... make changes and experiment with what has been done and suddenly you´ll find yourself doing new things. Finally try you to create something new at all. That's your creative peak, the point I wanted you to get.
I tell you something else: the music is very extensive occupation and not every musician needs to write songs to be creative on it. Remember that there are composers but also performers and one thing don´t demerits to another. If you decide to become an interpreter, your task is to create a style, and it is equally important. You´ll sing a song made by someone else, but with a style and an emotional weight that you alone are capable of giving. You can be that voice, that guitar or that trumpet the composer has been looking for your song. In music we all complement each other.
Later I will give you new tips, examples and more information on how to live beyond music theory. Make music from the heart.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario