You’re More Creative Than You Think
Don’t believe me? Try it.
Creativity
Posts discussing creativity, both in and outside of music
Kinds of Smart
My son said, “You’re smarter than me.”
Too Many Good Things
Is there such a thing as too many good things? As a general rule, I think no. I think that you should fill your life with as many good things as you can. My January might be filled to the brim with good things: concerts, conferences, dinners with friends, family […]
Time Horizon
I find it helpful to envision a time horizon when I take on a project. Especially for gig- and project-based work, it’s valuable to know how long it’s going to take. An arranging project for a client? Depending on the time of year, I can anticipate first contact to finished […]
You Can’t Wait Till You’re Ready
You’ll never start. I’ve had a lot of students over the years who knew they were going to accomplish something specific – as soon as they were ready. “I’m going to be a composer, once I’ve taken all the classes to have the skills.” “I’m going to write a book, […]
Creative Openings
Aspiring chess masters have to learn established sequences for the beginning portion of chess games – traditionally called openings. (There are hundreds, with names like “The Sicilian Defense.”) Learning these approaches is essential to avoiding blunders in games, and moving on to the more nuanced and wide-open middle game. Creative […]
Lower The Stakes
What are you trying to get better at? What are the stakes you’ll have when you’re good and how can you lower those stakes now? I got good at writing by lowering the stakes. If I had sat down at my computer and said, “I’m going to write an essay […]
Ideas Are Everywhere
Don’t worry, there’ll be another one along any minute. Sometimes I write my post by typing a title, with as little conscious thought as possible. It’s just something I’ve noticed, or feel in that moment. A little pause to think. And then I start to express what I feel about […]
Creative Practice
Creativity isn’t a skill. A skill is something that you get better at over time. In my experience, you don’t get better at creativity. You get more versed in accessing it, you get better at recognizing better creative impulses, but you don’t get better at being creative. That’s because creativity […]
Yes, And
The golden rule of improv applies well beyond comedy. The most famous dictum of improv comedy is “Yes, and.” When someone adds something to the scene, you must accept it and work with it as you continue. Only through that open collaboration can you create something all the improvisers share […]