As a musician, your relationship with music goes through phases, as any relationship does. A time will come when you might feel uninspired, insecure or indifferent towards music. These feelings can lead to creative bankruptcy - a truly frightful place to be, for any artist.
So, what is there to be done to get back on track? There are many tips and tricks to trigger your creativity, but none are as powerful and long-lasting as picking up an instrument you’ve never touched. If you feel like you have hit a wall, learning a new instrument will give your creativity the catapulting that it needs because all the things triggered by the journey of learning a new instrument are the very things from which creativity pulls nourishment.
The much-required plunge
By picking up a new instrument, you are plunging into the unknown. This can be a daunting and uncomfortable process, due to all the question marks…
“Will it be too difficult? Will I enjoy it? Will I be any good at it?” In this sense, it is a risk, and taking a risk requires courage. Creativity demands the same courage.
To be truly creative, you need to have the courage to step outside your comfort zone and the confidence to believe in your abilities and ideas, even when they are untested or unconventional. Without these qualities, it can be difficult to take the necessary risks and push the boundaries of what is possible. Therefore, channeling courage and confidence is the first step in reawakening your creative potential.
The right state of mind
The process of learning a new instrument requires a willingness to make mistakes and to learn from them, as well as a willingness to practice regularly and commit to the process of improvement.
Additionally, being open-minded and receptive to new techniques are crucial to truly succeeding at your new skill. In turn, creativity thrives when you are practicing dedication and open-mindedness.
Mastering the abstract
Learning a new instrument sharpens your abstract thought processes and enhances cognitive function since you are forced to understand and apply abstract concepts. Playing an instrument also involves multitasking, since you must coordinate your hands, eyes, and ears simultaneously. These cognitive demands stimulate your brain's neural pathways, ultimately improving our abstract thinking abilities.
Creativity is stimulated by sharpened abstract thinking abilities. This is because you are awakening the part of your brain that thinks beyond the obvious and finds connections between seemingly unrelated things. With this type of thinking in training, it becomes easier and more natural to generate new ideas and approaches that will lead to unique and innovative outcomes.
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A world of new options
As you become proficient at your new instrument, you will start to multiply the musical options available in your proverbial database. This is because you are exposing yourself to new sounds, textures and techniques. This exposure will surely inspire you to try new things out of heightened curiosity about new possibilities.
If you're a guitar player and you learn how to play the piano, you'll gain access to a wider range of chords and harmonic progressions that you can incorporate into your songs. Similarly, if you're a singer and you learn how to play the drums, you'll develop a deeper sense of rhythm that can help you create more complex and interesting vocal melodies. This whole new world of options will not only trigger your creativity, but push it to the next level.
A powerful process
To summarize, you are not merely learning an instrument, you are also practicing courage, open-mindedness, dedication, abstract thinking, problem-solving, multitasking… and your practice stimulates, challenges, and grows your ability and ambitions to be creative. It can change your approach to creation completely. The process is that powerful. So, which instrument will it be?
Carla Malrowe is an avid alternative songwriter and vocalist from South Africa, currently residing in The Netherlands. Check out her electro-industrial project, Psycoco's single “Stay Awake.” Malrowe’s music is a haunting juxtaposition of electronic and analogue sounds with lyrics that explore a post-apocalyptic conflict between love and loss. Her solo EP, 'The petals and sand' is set to be released later this year.
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