When I first began playing the piano and improvising, there were times when the music just wouldn't flow. No matter what I did, I couldn't make it go any further.
Blocked and frustrated, I wondered why this happened. One minute I would be in flow and enjoying the process of playing the piano. The next, I would find myself trying to come up with material
Blocked and frustrated, I wondered why this happened. One minute I would be in flow and enjoying the process of playing the piano. The next, I would find myself trying to come up with material
I soon realized that the more I tried to "come up" with something, the more blocked I became. The solution to this particular problem is simple, yet many find it to be frustrating in itself.
The answer is simply to walk away. That's right! If you're playing the piano and it just won't come anymore, I suggest getting up and finding something else to do. Why? Because you can not force play!
It's that simple. And that difficult because we want to get back into the "groove." But getting back to this place requires you to ease up a bit.
You see, the creative process is somewhat similar to meditation. Meditation can't be forced or willed into working. It must be allowed to work. So too the creative process. There are times when I won't touch the piano for weeks on end. This used to bother me until I saw that I needed time away - a regenerative period so to speak.
Extremely helpful thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThank you
I also walk away, but not to anything. For me, it needs to be something menial like cleaning or cooking or weeding.
ReplyDeleteIts a bit like restarting the computer.
I agree with the walking away technique, but for me its not enough. I need to do something calming and menial like weeding the garden or cleaning or cooking. Its like reseting the computer
ReplyDelete