I taught myself to use a new notation software today, and I did it by being almost completely uncreative.
I use notation software throughout my creative process – to complete scores, but also as I am composing and arranging. It is a creative tool.
But when you’re using a new tool, you don’t want to be attempting to simultaneously be creative.
I learned this from Trent Kynaston, my college improvisation and arranging professor, who described learning Finale by copying a Brahms concerto and attempting to get as accurate as possible in the final product. He was an accomplished composer and arranger, but when he wanted to learn the tool, he chose a completely uncreative project so he could focus on the mechanics. When he was ready, he was able to use those mechanics to be creative more effectively.
That’s what I did with Dorico today. I inputted an a cappella vocal jazz arrangement that I’ll be using this semester and whose published notation I wasn’t crazy about. All I had to do was copy the notes, rhythms, articulations, dynamics, etc. from the score – I made almost no creative choices, but was able to focus on learning keyboard shortcuts, finding my way around complex menus, and get a better handle on the way the software works.
The same is true of our creative students. It is more effective to ask them to learn the tools and work on their creative output separately. When we have to do both at the same time, the effectiveness in both areas is diminished.
I’m going to ask my Jazz Theory students to write some arrangements before the end of the semester, demonstrating their creativity using the vocabulary and toolbox they have built, but for the first several weeks, they will be building their toolbox, and that will require work that is not quite creative. It’s only by doing that work, though, that they will be able to reach their creative potential.