Attitude - For Musicians & Song Writers

"I Have a Dream..."

You no doubt recognize the source of those words: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And most know the general context of that phrase, and the fact that his speech on that particular day was about his feelings on a topic that was near and dear to his heart (and the hearts of many others) at that time.

What if I asked you what phrase came after "I have a dream..." in his speech. Do you remember? What if I asked you to learn Dr. King's speech, word for word so that you could recite it all from memory? How long would that take? How much time and energy would it take for you to successfully memorize his speech? It would no doubt take many hours to accomplish this task.

But on the other hand, what if I asked you simply to use your own words, and your own thoughts about issues in your life, and things you were passionate about? What if I asked you to start with the phrase "I have a dream..." and to talk to me for 10 minutes about one of your passions, something you'd like to change in this world? That might take a few minutes, but it definitely would not take hours like the memorization would. It would probably be a lot easier for you to make up your own "I have a dream" speech than it would be for you to memorize Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech. This is probably obvious to you. It's easier to use your own words in describing something you are passionate about, rather than trying to memorize someone else's words regarding what they are passionate about.

Unfortunately, most people do not approach music in this same manner. Usually, when one starts to learn a new instrument, they begin by learning songs someone else has written. But just like trying to memorize someone else's words is typically more difficult than speaking your own words, learning someone else's song, note for note, is usually more difficult than making up your own.

And, yet, most folks who are learning a musical instrument continue to travel that much more difficult road of learning the songs written by others instead of writing their own. Why? I believe it's primarily fear, specifically the fear of embarrassment, of doing something wrong. If you ask any 4-year-old to "draw me a picture of a horse", they'd probably just respond by asking "what color do you want it?" And 5 minutes later, you'd have that picture in your hands. But if you ask an adult to draw a picture of a horse, you'd probably get a refusal woven with an excuse "Oh, I can't draw." In reality, if you could convince the adult to attempt to draw a horse, the adult's horse would probably look a lot more like a horse than the 4-year-old's horse drawing. But, no doubt the 4-year-old will have much more confidence in their abilities than the adult. The reason is simple. The adult is afraid of being judged, knowing that the person looking at the drawing will have a preconceived idea of what a horse looks like. And their drawing will be compared to the viewer's expectations, being judged as "bad" if it falls short. This same intimidating fear of producing something unacceptable inhibits music creation, too.

Song writing is like communicating with language: it's easier to express yourself in your own words than it is to memorize someone else's words. But it's also like drawing: the fear of failure, or of producing something bad, can be so intimidating that one never even gets started. So they continue just to play other people's songs instead of ever trying to do their own thing. As a music instructor, I feel sad for the musicians who are too afraid of failure to venture into their own world of song writing. I view this like someone who learns to speak, but never learns to express their own thoughts. Instead, they always repeat what someone else has already said.

How do you get to the point of communicating freely with music, just like you do with everyday conversational language? How do you get to the point of being able to speak your mind musically, instead of always repeating what someone else said? How do you start writing songs instead of always playing someone else's?

It's all in your attitude, not your skill level. You simply have to be willing to try new things, to explore, knowing before hand that some of the things you explore won't sound very good. This is okay. Get used to occasionally sounding bad without demeaning yourself in the process. Music is a learning process. You will improve and make fewer mistakes over time. When you learned to talk, you first learned to communicate. Things like correct grammar came later, after a bit of trial and error. But you primarily learned by doing, and improvement came the more you used your language skills. The same will be true of your music skills. The most important thing to do is to simply play and try new things without fear, accepting mistakes as just a part of the process. Approach this musical task like a child approaching the drawing of a horse: with confidence in your ability to complete the task with your current set of abilities, and without fear of judgment.

If you can approach music with the ease and freedom that you use to speak your mind (as opposed to memorizing someone else's words or learning someone else's songs), and if you can approach music with the confidence of a child (instead of the fear of an adult when it comes to exploration and the prospect of making mistakes), then you will be successful in your musical endeavors. And your skills will advance faster than your peers who stick to learning other people's songs, and who live in fear of being laughed at for playing a wrong note. But the most important aspect of this appraoch is that you will be learning to express yourself in the language of music, just like you learned to express yourself in the language of words. And eventually, over time, you will learn to communicate just as effortlessly and effectively with music as you do with words.

Summary: Approach song writing (and learning new musical instruments) by embracing the process of musical exploration, trying new things without fear of sounding bad (because you will from time to time).

Next topic: "The Art of Ad Lib" - strategies for musical exploration

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