Power Attitudes Part1 (Hattrixx)

[cAAc]

Mozda pomogne u svakom slucaju je interesantno

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how
close they were to success when they gave up." - Thomas Alva
Edison (the dappa don of inventors)





I've never claimed to have all the answers, but I'm not too
shabby at asking the right questions. In this issue I'll be
sharing some of the most important attitudes & beliefs that have
helped me with my music making. Please understand, this isn't
universal wisdom. I'm only sharing personal attitudes that I've
devised myself, for myself. Certainly these evolve as I grow as
a person & you may find a few alterations work better for you.


If you want to get the most out of these nuggets, I suggest you
write them out & stick them somewhere easy to read from (maybe
on your wall, or on the inside of your door). Then when you feel
you want something to boost your creativity, they'll be right
where you need them.


#1 CREATIVITY IS NOT "A THING". IT IS A PROCESS:
Creativity isn't something you can pick up with your hands. It's
not even something you can touch. Creativity isn't something
you're only born with so much of. Creativity is a PROCESS that
has a form & a structure. That means it can be learned & adapted.

^This belief is the root of all my achievements within music.
I'm sick of people blaming success on some kind of mystical
talent! I'm not even so sure that music-writing talent exists,
I've seen nothing to indicate that it does. What I HAVE seen is
people with bad creative processes fail. What I HAVE seen is
people with good creative processes succeed.

A bad creative process might include guessing, being impatient,
waiting for a mystical wave of inspiration to suddenly hit you,
being desperate to remember ideas you had earlier, self doubt,
overwhelm, desiring better tools, boredom, frustration, despair.
Sound familiar?

A good creative process will more likely include laughter,
relaxation, fun, comfort, logical thinking, putting theories to
the test, experimenting, being open to try new approaches,
being patient, remembering what you did last time it went well,
making the most of your tools, sporadically taking quick breaks,
perseverance, the willingness to get it wrong every so often!

Remember these distinctions as you read on...


#2 THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A BAD MUSICAL IDEA:
Any idea you do come up with, through whatever method, has an
enormous POTENTIAL. If an idea seems un-useful at first, it
probably would seem more useful after a few small tweaks, or
used in a different context to what you'd originally intended.

^How is this possible? Let me tell you, it's the one belief that
prevents me from ever running out of musical ideas. EVER. Now,
normally there are certain notes that will sound awful with
whatever you have laid down already. Fixing those notes is not
a huge task, so that is the first small tweak that might be
required. Then there's rhythm. When you fix your rhythms so
that they flow together, you're closer to where you want to be.

Unfortunately, it would be very difficult for me to explain
within this one issue all the ways you can fix a bad idea, but
it's really the theory that I want to get across to you. The
rest will come in future issues. Half the beauty of it is that
you don't even need to know HOW it can be fixed, so long as you
have the patience to work it out. Failing that...


#3 IDEAS ARE DISPOSABLE, NOT SACRED. THEY DON'T LOVE YOU:
No idea is worth your tears. Music writing should be fun & easy.
If an idea is giving you grief, walk out on it! Forget it.

^Now, I know I said there's no such thing as a bad musical idea.
BUT, there certainly is such a thing as bad creative process, &
certain ideas will not work in certain tracks the way you might
want them to. Remember, these are ATTITUDES, not facts. This is
a position, a stance that cuts difficulties out of your process,
paving the way for smooth & enjoyable creativity. It might be at
ends with your current beliefs, but there's a point at which you
really have to examine what beliefs are serving you & what
beliefs are holding you back. Understand? So next time you're
really stuck with something you've come up with, try getting rid
of it. The idea of this attitude is to avoid putting yourself
under pressure. You want to escape the notion that ideas are
valuable, because they're not. You can come up with infinite
ideas & they will do you more good if you work with the
assumption that ANY idea can be used for something. It's not so
much what ideas you have, but what you're able to make of them
that counts!


Finally, don't be fooled by the reading-size of this issue. The
actual content is ripe with possible thought tangents & I'm sure
as an elephant that this issue contains the most valuable
information to date. I will be following up with a Part II, but
I thought it would be a good idea to give you an opportunity to
digest everything here first.

http://www.hattrixx.co.uk