philosophy of creativity - Choose Your Own Adventure - Teachers or Self-Awareness

[guitfnky]

now that I've got a youtube channel again, one of the things I've been itching to get back to is the sort of philosophical takes on the creative process that I don't think get talked about enough in the music community.

this one is about the importance of teachers and/or self-awareness in the creative process. hope you enjoy! feedback is always welcome, of course.

[aeox]

I'd like to write more but I'm on lunch break. Really enjoyed the video and you make really good points.

I have been there, thinking my music is more special than it really is. I've got a lot to learn! Getting denied by labels is the best form of feedback for me usually

[guitfnky]

you bring up a really great point! the fact that we feel our art is special is a hugely important thing. it can be a very big motivator for us, which is crucial, especially when we’re first starting out. we need to be able to find that motivation in the moment, and ride it through the tough times until we’ve established our creative habits (i.e. get to a point where we’re not going to just give up). it’s a balance between enjoying that feeling of specialness and the sort of objective(ish) analysis/honesty I talk about in the video.

anyhoo, I’m really glad you enjoyed it—thanks!

[Billy+]

Very interesting topic for discussion,

I love nothing more than loosing all concept of time while being creative, I find it the single more enjoyable thing to do. I'm not concerned with any sense of completeness or a necessity to produce the next big thing it's just something to create an excitement deep within my soul that only music can accomplish.

[guitfnky]

Very interesting topic for discussion,

I love nothing more than loosing all concept of time while being creative, I find it the single more enjoyable thing to do. I'm not concerned with any sense of completeness or a necessity to produce the next big thing it's just something to create an excitement deep within my soul that only music can accomplish.

thanks!

I think this goes hand in hand with the idea that you need to define your goals. if your goal is simply to enjoy the process of music creation, then it sounds like you’re already there!

and I’m totally with you on the creative process. there’s nothing more fulfilling for me. I tried walking away from music once, a long time ago, and it didn’t take long for me to realize it’s an outlet I need in my life.

[Billy+]

I would have to say that I still spend a great deal of time and money trying to improve the skill set.

This month I've spend £50 on books and maybe £100 on software but the main goal is still enjoyment. If I wasn't having fun then I guess I wouldn't have spent nearly twenty years using reason and trying to improve but again it's more about the enjoyment I get from the creative process than it is about creating for the enjoyment of others.

[rgdaniel]

Great video! Begs the question, what if Mick Jagger had appropriate self-awareness of his crappy voice? Maybe he did/does, but his (perhaps unjustified) self-confidence was enough to carry the day?

[guitfnky]

Great video! Begs the question, what if Mick Jagger had appropriate self-awareness of his crappy voice? Maybe he did/does, but his (perhaps unjustified) self-confidence was enough to carry the day?

thanks!

that’s a good observation, and I’d argue this also falls under the umbrella of being aware of your own personal (or in this case, band) goals. it’s sort of in line with the avant-garde example I gave in the video—he may have been well aware of what weaknesses he had with his voice, but one could make the case that he understood that his pure singing ability was less important than projecting the energy of the music.

it’s similar to a lot of the punk bands in the 80s and 90s, where the performances were often incredibly sloppy (hell, so were a lot of the recordings), but the music still resonates with people because the energy of the music and excitement of youth was the defining feature of much of the genre back then.

self-awareness, to my mind, is about being aware of what one’s flaws are, but more importantly, which of those flaws are important to focus on. for instance (sticking to extreme examples, because they’re the easiest to explain), a rock singer may be terrible at singing with vibrato, but in a lot of cases, that’s completely fine, and instead their self-awareness might guide them to focus working on their yelling/“distorted” voice. on the flip side, someone who wants to become a classically-trained opera singer will have almost no use for learning how to sing with a rasp, and will absolutely want to make sure they have a well-controlled vibrato.

it’s too bad I couldn’t have read your comment before I made the video, because I definitely would have liked to include that!

[teddymcw]

Yes, awesome topic and convo! Self-awareness in music, esp when hearing one's own voice imho, is well... trippy at best sometimes. Something I've been defining for a long while now and this helps thinking and validation around that process. Will be paying attention to your music and channel in the future. Many thanks!

[guitfnky]

Yes, awesome topic and convo! Self-awareness in music, esp when hearing one's own voice imho, is well... trippy at best sometimes. Something I've been defining for a long while now and this helps thinking and validation around that process. Will be paying attention to your music and channel in the future. Many thanks!

thanks, appreciate that!

hearing your own voice definitely takes getting used to, and sharing it (or not) is such a personal decision. it seems so much more invasive (best word I can think of right now ) to share one’s singing, than to share an instrumental performance of any kind, IMO. when I first started out, I had incredible performance anxiety singing even in my own house when no one else was there. really glad I persevered.

so yeah, trippy indeed!