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Re: Loss of the initial song idea



Distraction is a serious foe of inspiration.  Sometimes ideas are like butterflies.  My experience is I have to move very fast.  So sometimes I have a digital recorder always handy and I will hum or sing or describe the idea within seconds.  Sometimes ideas evaporate in less than seconds.  Sometimes the sound of someone walking by will distract you, someone walking into the room telling you it's dinner time.  

We have a policy at our house that, when someone is in the creative moment, we tiptoe, we close doors quietly, we are very respectful of the presence of the Muse - that lightning fast butterfly.  When we accidentally barge in, we dont' make conversation and apologize etc.  Everyone is trained.  I suggest you do that with whoever you live with, share a dorm with etc.  

Sometimes the idea just evaporates because it wasnt' that strong in the first place.  I can't tell you how many times, in the old days, the software would freak out and lose the entire work.  I was always furious when I had to start over, but every time the second effort was much better than the one that evaporated.  That applies to writing language or music. 

So, sometimes the Muse guides you with a rough hand, a slap on the face, a scattering of the dominoes so you have to start over... because what comes next will exceed what you THOUGHT would be great.

All the other advice is great - setting it aside for a rainy day etc. 

The key is to not get too worked up about the lost inspiration.  The goal is to stay fluid and open to the Muse - to not shut down because a concept or effort evaporated or didn't turn out as you'd dreamed it would.  Sometimes, it just wasn't meant to be.

Art is like boxing or martial art.  You can't let your opponent knock you off balance.  Stay on your feet, stay limber, be very quick.  As long as your still standing in the boxing ring, you could win the match.  

Have faith.  You ARE still standing!


On Feb 17, 2012, at 7:26 PM, k3zz21@gmail.com wrote:

Im currently writing a piano piece for my music class. I originally started out feeling really connected with the idea. My intention was to to make the piece somewhat sound like a rain storm. And I was definitely feeling the connection between what I had made so far and the vision that I had in my head which was simply rain. Now I seem to have lost that initial feeling. Ism wondering if it is due to me being distracted from that feeling and trying harder to make the song sound "Good" maybe?